Oct
02
Making the case for Mark Teixeira
ByAs the Yanks look ahead to the post-World Series free agency frenzy, one name sure to be on the team’s radar is Mark Teixeira. The agile, power-hitting first baseman is due for a big raise, and the Yanks just happen to have a glaring need for a first baseman and lots of money. Teixeira has enjoyed two straight seasons of a .400+ OBP, and he would be a perfect fit for the Bronx, says iYankees. If the years are right, the dollar amount doesn’t really matter.
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While everyone wants CC I personally think Tex should be the #1 free agent, he’s a switch hitter, a gold glover, and a lifetime .290/.378/.541, good for a .919 OPS. He hits better against lefties, and better in the 2nd half of the year.
People argue his Texas numbers inflate this, well his OPS+ has been better since leaving Texas then it was his time in Texas, basically is not the park, its the player.
Yes the Yanks have to pony up for Tex, but, you get one of the top 1B in the league, in his prime, that can play the position, and provide great protection for A-Rod.
You go out and get this guy, he’s worth the 1st round pick
If (a) Teixeira will take 5 years, (b) the Yankees are confident that Posada can finish his contract at catcher, and (c) A-Rod can stay at 3rd the entire length of Tex’s contract, then they should pounce on him.
However:
a) Low odds
b) We can’t predict that, and I don’t think the Yankees can be sure at least until Posada starts throwing again
c) Fairly safe to be true if Tex takes a 5 year deal, not so sure if Tex requires a 7 year deal
a) I agree, but dont think it matters. 7 years for Tex isn’t the same as giving 7 to Giambi. Even in his prime, Giambi never fielded his position or ran the bases well. He was always a one trick pony, so when his hitting declined he was pretty much useless. Tex is a complete player. He hits, gets on base, fields his position and runs the bases well. So even as he ages, he can still help you win a ballgame.
b) This isn’t an issue. Posada made it clear this year he doesn’t want to play 1B, so as he gets older he will simply catch less and DH more. By the end of his contract he will be our backup catcher and hopefully Montero/Romine/Cervelli are ready by then.
c) We’ll see what the market will command for his services. If it takes 7 to sign him, I still do it. Money will not be an issue for the Yanks with their new ballpark.
The Giambi deal actually turned out to be pretty good. 5 very good or great years and 2 bad ones (which were hampered by injury).
. . and 7 years of a guy who was a statue at 1B who couldn’t throw the ball. Also, 7 years of a guy who wasn’t in scoring position when he was on second base.
It was bad deal. Giambi wasn’t the kind of all around player who started for the championship teams.
yeah but pretty guarenteed Tex doesn’t have those problems
well maybe i should say guaranteed, but Giambi couldn’t really play 1st or run the bases before he came over… Tex can
Don’t forget he came out and said he wants a 10-year deal this offseason. Of course we’d take him for 5-7 years, but i’d pass on 10.
Yeah, me too. At 29 I can live with 7.
10 is stupid to give to anyone at any age, including A-Rod.
For some reason I don’t think the Yanks will be going after him.
Keep in mind that lots of players say they want 10 year deals. To this date, only one player has ever signed a 10 year deal, that that’s the one ARod signed last winter.
The only other two 10 year contracts were the previous ARod deal and the Manny deal, and both of them had options or opt out clauses.
Look for Tex to get a Manny-esque 7 year deal with two or three team-exercisable options years. Boras gets to say he got a 10-year deal, but it’s actually a 7.
Baseball deals are becoming like football deals.
I prefer a trade for Andy LaRoche or Adrian Gonzalez, but that probably won’t happen.
My issue with that is Andy LaRoche was a great idea if you could have gotten him from the dodgers because they were desperate for something, Pirates likely to be more savvy…could get Adam LaRoche, but I feel like Miranda could put up similar production
Adrian might be available, but realistically you’re going to give up more than a late 1st round pick, have to pay him similar $$ when FA hits, and all for a guy who is a worse defender and only 2 years younger.
Blockbuster deal-Yanks get Peavey and Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres.
Send a package of Cano-Hughes-Robertson-Miranda back to the Padres.
Yeah.. That’s not enough, but it’s nice to dream.
From the way Cashman’s been talking, it seems that, if he had his druthers, he’d rather make trades for key personnel rather than commit hundreds of millions over multiple years (especially in regard to pitching). But the Yankees are not stocked with off-the-shelf prospects that everyone hungers for. No Matt LaPorta for example. Given this philosophy, it’s going to be a long, difficult winter for Cashman. The free agents we need to get will have many, many suitors (and because of revenue-sharing, several viable bids). The guys we’d like to trade for (a Peavy, an Adrian Gonzalez, a Zack Greinke, etc.) will require more than we can easily give up. It’s 20/20 hindsight but the “rebuilding” project should have started back in 2002…when even Buster Olney could tell you that the dynasty was finished. But that was never going to happen with George in charge and paying his manager $7 million a year to boot.
The Yanks have a very good farm system with plenty of pieces other teams want in trades. Whether they actually want to trade those pieces is an entirely different matter.
Yeah because they didn’t come within a couple games of winning the WS in 2003….or within a couple outs of making the series (and probably wound have won if they had) in 2004. You’re right. They should’ve torn it all down in ’02.
i think he’d have a decent point if he said 2005.
but the 2002 Yankees were a VERY good team. probably better than the 2001 or 2003 WS teams.
No, they didn’t need to tear anything down but what he’s saying is that htey should have concentrated more on farm starting in 05 instead of bringing in every top of line FA.
Please please just say no to Grienke…
You don’t want a guy with a social anxiety disorder in the biggest city in the country? Why not?
Why isn’t this more obvious? The guy basically quit baseball because of the pressure………………..IN KANSAS CITY!!
and to think . . . . we drafted his little brother.
BTW-Ed Whitson says Hello.
[...] « Making the case for Mark Teixeira 02 10 2008 [...]
tex is the only fa i would advocate going full steam after. Give him 7 years power hitting firstbasemen tend to age pretty well. Hes a switch hitter and a gold glover and is only 27. Miranda is nice i guess but utterly useless against lefties and steven hawkings in the field. Theres no better first base platoon than tex batting right and text batting left. The only thing that sucks is angles would be getting our first round pick and with our luck they’ll pick a future hall of famer. At some point or another our financial clout should win out in this type of situation.
Knitpick – Tex’s birthday is April 11, 1980. He’ll actually be 29 come the 2009 home opener.
I’m not disagreeing with you that we should target him, I’m just saying, he’s not 27. He’s 29.
“Theres no better first base platoon than tex batting right and text batting left. “
Well said. Texy’s switch hitting and excellent first base defense raises his value dramatically. He’s not only a legit middle of the order bat, he’s a switch hitter that helps protect the heart of our order from lefty-righty matchup issues and his defense makes the rest of the team that much better.
The Yankees have most of their prize prospects at THREE positions: Pitching, Catcher, and Shortstop. They have Jackson, Laird and Suttle and that is it at the other positions. If you get Teixeira, you fill a HUGE hole and have an awesome infield.
As for the cost, I really wonder what the market will be for Teixeira and for all of the other free agents? When BORAS client Kyle Lohse SETTLES for 4 years and $41,000,000 after going 15-6 (With a 3.78 ERA to be fair), instead of testing the market, it makes you think that the contracts that Teixeira, Sabathia and company will LESS than what MOST people think. If this is true, it may represent a tremendous BUYING opportunity for aggressive teams who want to add top flight talent (Such as Teixeira, Sabathia, and K-Rod ). If that is the case, it MAY be a very rough market for guys like Abreu, Giambi, Sheets & perhaps even Burnett (Because of the age and (Or) injury baggage they have). It would NOT even shock me to see Abreu take arbitration with the Yankees (If offered) for that reason.
OK, I have to SAY THIS. Your use of ALL CAPS is EXCEEDINGLY ANNOYING, and does nothing to add to your argument. Actually, it detracts from your argument, because you come across as unstable and obnoxious. Enough already.
Dude, just learn to skip over posts. Being an ass about it doesn’t help anything, it just starts stupid fights that ruin these threads.
Like calling me an ass? Right on.
But hey, hypocrites are rarely the introspective types, so don’t sweat it, Steve.
Like calling me a hypocrite? Right on.
Thanks for starting another one of your fights. But unfortunately for you, I won’t take your bait. I have a life.
I stand corrected. My deepest apologies.
When BORAS client Kyle Lohse SETTLES for 4 years and $41,000,000 after going 15-6 (With a 3.78 ERA to be fair), instead of testing the market, it makes you think that the contracts that Teixeira, Sabathia and company will LESS than what MOST people think.
wait, a mediocre pitcher like Lohse gets $41M and you think the market will be LESS than what people think?
time will tell, but to me it says exactly the opposite.
Sabathis is worth 5 X’s what Lohse is worth. Lohse is 29 and this is the first time he’s had an ERA under 4.
but he didn’t test the market, Boras clients almost always test the market. This would lead one to believe that no one else was willing to pay that much. However I don’t think this will change deals for guys like CC, but it maybe that ppl saw what happened with Silva and said no dice
perhaps.
i just don’t think Lohse really “settled”, i think he got a very generous contract.
This is the time for the Yankees to flex their financial muscles. I would say 7 or 8 years/$22M for Teixeira. He is a perfect fit for the Yankees. Money should be no object with the big money departures and new stadium. This allows Matsui to DH, Posada and Molina to split catcher 75/25, Damon in LF and the best defensive CF we can put out there.
You’re in the ballpark (pardon the pun) but 176 is a little rich for my blood. 7-140/150 should get the job done. He’s a 1B, its not like he’s putting up those numbers at a premium defensive position. I think there’s only 4-5 players in all of baseball making 20 mil or more. A-Rod, Manny, Giambi, Johan Santana, and . . I think thats it. Also, if you’ve watched the news lately the economy is going into the toilet. So many teams will be scared to make huge bids to free agents, fearing a recession where their attendance goes down.
Matsui is an interesting one. He’s basically a full time DH now, and Girardi has said often that he would like to have the DH spot open for resting his regulars and getting his bench players involved. You could see the yanks looking to move him. And don’t fall for the stuff about him not being trade able, he is. You simply deal him for some PTBNL, and have two lists. One if he stays healthy and the other if he doesnt. Or (more preferably) you deal him after Spring training to show he’s healthy, and just in case someone gets hurt in camp you still have him. Its do able.
“He’s a 1B, its not like he’s putting up those numbers at a premium defensive position.”
I think this refrain is a bit overblown. People use this idea to say that we shouldn’t commit big dollars to offensive positions like 1B and DH and RF because they’re not “premium defensive positions”, but part of the basic philosophy of constructing a good team is to have premium offensive producers in the premium offensive positions, and then to supplement that with trying to find good offensive producers in the defensive positions as well. Having ARod’s bat at 3rd and Jeter’s bat at SS and Posada’s bat at C doesn’t enable you to not spend resources on positions like 1B, it enables you to have a dominant lineup when you pair those players with a great bat at 1B as well.
If we’re going to skimp on spending money at 1B, simply because it’s not a defensive-plus position, all we’re doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Bring him to the Bronx Cash please !!! You can argue he doesnt deserve that kind of money hes not a superstar hes beltran-esque.. thats ridic few players deserve the money they get and hey lets face it we should of signed beltran that year.. we’d be a much better team.. Don’t pass on the oppurtunity for Tex, he’s too good to pass up
uh, Beltran is a superstar.
but i agree, i think they need to pay for Tex.
Beltran is not a superstar and many readers on here will agree with me on that.. He is not a superstar
The same people probably think A-Rod is not a super star.
This year he’s by far the best CF in the NL and one of the 3 best in baseball. It’s basically been the same the last 5 years (except for a bad 2005 when he was nursing a quad injury).
Beltran may have been with the Yankee’s if not for the bad moves they made the previous years. As much as you don’t want to believe, the Yankees have a budget.
they were more worried bout getting the big unit… huge mistake especially considering beltran was willing to give them a 20 mill discount… so idk bout ur point here…Beltran is a great ballplayer no doubt bout it and I wish he was in CF for the Yanks and maybe we could of got some trade value for Melky years back and dealt him for something that we’d have right now
Beltran is not a superstar and many readers on here will agree with me on that.. He is not a superstar
yes he is.
8 seasons of 100 rbi. 8 seasons of 20+ HR. 7 seasons of 20+ SB’s. One of the greatest postseasons of all time. A gold glove CF. If he’s not a superstar, than there are no superstars playing CF in the majors today. Someone please name me 3 CF’s they’d take over Beltran.
Most his numbers were in the NL, not the big AL East…but must agree, he is a very good player that we could’ve used. “Great player”, is a bit strong…don’t you think? 27/09.
Why would anyone agree with you on that? What exactly are your qualifications for a superstar?
Dude are you kidding.. 280 career hitter 263 career home runs in 11 seasons 987 rbis in 11 seasons.. that equals out to less than 25 hrs and 90 rbis every season. granted he has become much better over the past 5 yrs or so than he was in the beginning with KC.. I really dont beleive he is a superstar.. How does he qualify as a supersstar man please explain to me. He had a huge postseason with the Astros that got him huge money.. The dude is great hes a star hes an all star but he cannot be a superstar.. im not sayin hes not worth the 119 million dollar deal they gave him cuz hes worth 17 mill a season but he is not a superstar.
.. that equals out to less than 25 hrs and 90 rbis every season.
right.
as one of the best fielding CENTER FIELDERS in baseball.
that’s like the definition of a superstar.
Name me 3 better CF’s
Grady Sizemore, Grady S., and G. Sizemore
I should have researched before I posted, I forgot about those guys.
Children, a certain agitator, who we’ll call “Lisa S.”… no, that’s too obvious, let’s just call her “L. Simpson”, has questioned whether or not we should eat meat. So, in the interest of having a fair and open discussion, please sit silently and watch this filmstrip.
i was just thinking about that.
15 best players in the majors? is that fair?
i think Beltran fits that criteria.
He does fit that criteria but I dont beleive that is accurate criteria for being a superstar.. And he just makes it if you dont include pitchers..
ok then, we just disagree on what “superstar” means.
that’s fine. agree to disagree.
Was a good argument and I enjoyed it lol.. Not trying to fight if you think im coming off that way but Idk hes jus not a superstar to me ya know.. But all i know is I want Tex on the Yanks bad
Look at the Brewers thread man.. Mike A and others agree Beltran is very very good liek they say but he is not in that tier one of superstardom.. When you think of superstars he doenst come to you mind
serious question: is Jeter a “superstar”?
Well he averages much less than 25 hr’s and 90 rbi’s a year, and doesn’t play D like Beltran, so by that definition, of course not.
He was and Steve H is pretty funny
He is a super star in life (laugh) as is jeter but he is not a top 15 player. Better players include…A-Rod, Pujols, Berkman, Manny, Utley, Howard, A. Ramirez, Ichiro, Vlad, Carlos Lee, David Wright, Dustin Pedroia (it’s true), Mark Texiera, Nick Markakis, Justin Morneau, Grady Sizemore (I think that’s 16), etc. Beltran is Alex Rios, Bobby Abreu or Rafeal Furcal. He’s not elite, that said I wish he was our CFer! Would you trade Soriano or Joe Mauer for Beltran? I think you have your answer/
I’d definitely go with tex for 18-20 million, if and only if they make clear what ace they are targeting. We’ve discussed this on many boards already…I still think Peavy is the guy to go for. And Their are those who think if Hughes/Cano aren’t packaged then it won’t happen. Well Package Hughes/Cano. May sound like outrage and we all have sentimental attatchments to these players as we’ve followed Cano and Hughes since they’re teens, but for a guy like Peavy, you make this deal.
Cano/Hughes doesn’t come close to getting Peavy. It’s more like Cano/Hughes/Joba or Cano/Hughes/Jackson/Montero.
Cano/Hughes/lesser guys probably would’ve gotten Santana. But Peavy is 2 years younger and is signed well below market rate for 4 years, whereas Santana had 1 year remaining and was demanding a record setting contract extension as part of the trade. Peavy’s going to be worth a LOT more in a trade.
Yeah, seriously. The Peavy fantasies should probably stop. You wouldn’t like the deal if it went down, because we’d have to give the Pads everything short of part-ownership of the New Stadium. Think of the Santana, Haren, and Beckett deals combined.
Peavy’s cost = Congressional Wall Street Bailout
Think about it this way: Make your trade proposal of who we’d be giving them. Then, imagine you were Kevin Towers and Brian Cashman called you and said he’d give you the aforementioned players for Jake Peavy.
If your first reaction isn’t “OH MY GOD I’M TOTALLY FUCKING THIS IDIOT, THIS THING IS A SLAM DUNK, THESE GUYS ARE CAN’T MISS FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS, I CAN’T SAY YES FAST ENOUGH!!!”, then your trade proposal isn’t enough.
Towers needs to see a bounty of good young players and prospects so huge and promising that his mother, who doesn’t watch baseball and is probably dead, would rise from the grave and kick him in the nuts for turning it down in order to consider not turning it down.
I agree money should not matter in the scenario but the angels are probablly going to sign him anyway
George King in the NY post says Tex’s name has not come up in talks bout getting a 1b while in the same article Cashman said getting a 1b is my first priority
Think about who your source is and then ask yourself if that’s reliable
George King then went on to say “I like pudding!”
Signing Tex as a free agent is exactly the type of move the Yanks need to make in order to maximize their competitive advantage. Forget trades where we give up promising young pitching for a bat. If we combine signing a couple of high-impact bats with allowing our young arms to develop, we’ll be unstoppable.
Plus we sign Tex it can attract a pitcher to the Bronx cuz maybe he will have the mentality like hmmm maybe im the piece thats missing.. I think we need to get an SP to attract Tex or vice versa once we sign one it could make it easier for another one to join.. and im not limiting it to CC. maybe burnett or sheets would like to be here cuz they like our chances.. jus spitballin but i think that happens
We don’t need Tex to attract anyone to the Bronx. $$$$$ and tradition will win over long before a pitcher signs because of Tex.
You still want Sheets? After he got hurt for what the millionth time? NO Thanks to Sheets and Burnette.
Tex is great for the production, OBP, defense, and that he’s a switch hitter. However, I fear the long-term contract for first basemen. First basebmen typically don’t age well, like Mattingly, Giambi, Martinez, Alvin Davis…and I don’t know if I could trust the late career numbers of any of the first basemen from the nineties cause of the steroid possibilities.
I don’t know about that. Tex is pretty athletic for his position, I certainly wouldn’t compare him to Giambi. Mattingly hurt his back, Tino’s OPS+ was very consistent even toward the end of his career.
http://www.baseball-reference......ti02.shtml
As far as the steroid stuff goes, this season appears to be one of the first post-steroid years given the drop in run production across Baseball. He put up one of the finest years of his career. Looks like that’s not a concern in his case.
i agree about Tex. i think his body type should age well.
plus Tino was never half the hitter Teixeira was, so if Teixeira declines like Tino did, he’ll still be pretty good.
Yeah, Tex is a way better hitter than Tino was.
Tino retired at 37, coming off a pretty good year playing part time. He wasn’t the type to hang around till the wheels came off. I remember him saying he wouldn’t have even played that final year if it wasn’t the Yanks. So its not that he didn’t age well, he just didn’t have a burning desire to keep playing till they ripped the uniform off his back.
I want to trade a couple of pitchers including IPK for Hank Blaylock. Texas will pick up his option and then shop him because they don’t need him. I’d love Texiera if the price was right but how often does that happen?
I would say Derrick Lowe right now looks like the best option besides Sabathia via free agency. Consistent and shines in tough spots.
A free agency this year where the Yankees can get either:
1. Lowe/Sabathia
2. Teixeira/Sabathia
3. Teixeira/Lowe
Would probably be looked at as the best we can do this offseason without trades. I would be happy with the #3 option. Lowe may be old, but he gets it done. IMO, anyother pitcher is just wasting money on a future Pavano-like pitcher. Good when healthy, but often injured.
Does anyone else remember what Lowe’s last year in the AL East was like?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lowede01.shtml
He pitched to a 5.42 ERA (4.47 the year before) lost his spot in the Red Sox rotation, and despite his good playoff run the Red Sox didn’t even offer him a contract. He’s 4 years older now (36), I don’t think he’s as safe a bet as some others do.
The NL West seems to suit him fine, let him stay out there.
I agree with your point, though I think his struggles towards the end of his time with the Sox was more about his partying/drinking than his ability to pitch in the AL. I’m guessing he’s matured, but I still don’t know if it’s worth the risk of bringing him to NY.
Amazing. I hadn’t heard that one.
The Red Sox always smear their beloved players on the way out. Pedro, Clemens, Boggs, etc etc. They’ve been doing it since they traded Ruth. It never ends.
/nod
Manny
This just in: Kevin Millar was an axe murderer.
Lowe is a good pitcher but in the NL west. Back in his last season with teh Red Sox, he had like a 5 ERA. Now he has aged a bit since then. Is it worth a four year deal for about 55 mil. I don’t thnk so. I would rather have Pettite who will give you 200 innings with a 4 – 4.5 ERA which Lowe, you don’t know what he will do in the AL East. Also, Pettite would require a one year deal vs Lower with a four year deal.
Sabathia does not have any injury problems.
Oh yeah, and he’s also really, you know, um… good.
Hmmm…many interesting options coming along. I wouldn’t necessarily worry, but Cashman has said that his #1 priority (in the WFAN interview) is the rotation, which I would agree with.
Peavy is an interesting option (would cost too much…I’d rather see a homegrown pitcher, even if they struggle), as is Greinke (very underrated pitcher, IMO), although his price would also be pretty up there. If we can’t get a top-flight prospect, I’d be willing to buckle down and throw in the rooks and see em’ struggle for the next year, even if we miss the playoffs again. If we’re going to follow Cashman’s program (and I personally very much believe in it), we just might have to suck it up and endure a losing season or two. Tis’ the cost of greatness after all…
What would it take to get Nate McLouth for CF? Graziano was saying on WFAN that he is someone that the Yankees may target this winter. He’ll be 27 this month, his offensive stats are pretty good and he’s a lefty with some power. How is he as a fielder?
He’s had one half of a good season. No thanks. Whatever it takes, it’s too much.
Agreed, I’d rather give Gardner a shot then AJAX.
There is nothing about Texiera special enough to offer a 10 year contract to. Let him sign somewhere else. The yankees need a first baseman but what they don’t need in a few years is an overpaid aging first baseman dragging down the team.
I’m normally the first person to call Bill Simmons an idiot, but I actually enjoyed his Manny article on ESPN today.
FWIW – he seems convinced (much to his chagrin) that Manny will be Manny in pinstripes next year. Of course, that’s mainly an old Sox fan expecting the worst possible outcome, but I’ll be damned if I’m not warming to the idea more and more myself. As he pointed out — if King George were still running the show, you could pretty much bank on it.
I would give Manny 3x$25MM in a heartbeat. Much quicker than I would give Tex 7x$22MM. In the end, I would be happy doing both and getting CC too.
Ooops! Looks like I just blew the whole budget on three guys. Glad I’m not in charge…
I’d try to see if Tex will take more money but for less time. In other words overypay but for a shorter period. The most I’d do is 6-7 but def not in 20mil range.
Tex should be the #1 priority to sign. We get get creative in tradeing for a pitcher