Angels Walk Away From Teixeira
Dave · December 21, 2008 at 7:08 pm · Filed Under Mariners
The Angels announced today that they are pulling out of the bidding for Mark Teixeira. They’ll spend the money they were going to give him on, I don’t know, Adam Dunn or something.
This is a pretty big deal, honestly. The Angels just aren’t that good without Teixeira. They weren’t great even with him, and he was an absolute monster for them down the stretch. Yes, they’re getting Kelvim Escobar back and their rotation is still going to be terrific, but their position players leave a lot to be desired.
The AL West doesn’t have a juggernaut anymore.
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Every Mariner fan should be thrilled the Angels aren’t getting Tex back.
I agree. The loss of Teixeira means not only losing Mark, but also Kotchman and Marek. Although Tex played well for the Angels down the stretch, the Angels lost far more than they gained. Hooray!
EDIT: Teixeira did not play for the Angles. Yay edit button!
Do you really believe this though? First the RedSox said they were out of the running, and now the Angels? This is Posturing 101 or the ultimate high stakes game of chicken. Teixeira will be an Angel or RedSox come spring training
I will certainly be happy though if he is gone from the West, and hope the Angels spend their money elsewhere on a less valuable player.
I hope they sign Dunn. Then they have to find room for him in their crowded outfield or DH positions…
As they already have Vlad, Rivera, Matthews, and Hunter to man the 3 OF positions and DH, I can’t see them doing it. I wonder if they’re just going to sit this offseason out Riverside and San Bernadino counties getting decimated economically.
If they do spend money, I wonder if they would go the way of Sheets or another starter? What else is out there that would be an upgrade for them in a position where they’re not already spending a considerable amount of money?
P.S. I’m happy to see teams calling Boras’s bluff and/or out-posturing him. It’s fun to watch.
So, who plays 1B for them now? Will they have to go the free agent route, or will they bring someone up from AAA?
Kendry Morales is their odds on 1B now.
the stories floating around this are just fascinating.
Newsday sez Boras “reportedly told Cashman it would take eight years and $180 million to $185 million to sign Teixeira” and adds that the offers up to now are:
The Angels 8/$160M
The Red Sox 8/$170-180M
The Nationals 8/$160M
The Orioles 7/$150M
suposedly, the Yankees are weighing Tex (8 years) vs Manny (3-4 years) and the As are looking at former Yank Ja. Giambi, who wants a 3 year deal…
I want to see who pays for Tex but seriously 8 years that is like Richie Sexson collapse waiting to happen.
msb-
That’s a really interesting summary. It seems like all the teams are valuing him similarly. Back in November, Dave looked at Teixeira over at fangraphs and though he would get a contract along the lines of 7 years and $171M. That was before people started realizing that the contracts would be down this season. If we assume:
– an 8 year contract
– Teixeira being a 5 WAR player (using Dave’s previous work)
– Free agents getting $5M per win (versus the $5.5M that Dave was expecting earlier this off-season)
– the standard Fangraphs 10% for a multiyear deal
An 8 year deal for Teixeira would be 5 WAR * $5M/WAR * .90 * 8 years = $180M. That’s about exactly what Boras thinks Teixeira should get based on that Newsday quote. I guess the only question now is which team – if any – ups its bid by $2M to $3M per year to get him.
The AL West is going to be interesting next year. Probably for a few years. The A’s are probably underrated. Texas can never find starting pitchers. The Angels are burdened by aging veterans that cost too much.
I hereby predict without really looking at the future of our three rivals that we go the playoffs in 2010.
interesting pieces the last month about the As and spending money, and the the stadium and the atmosphere
Like Silva, Johjima, Washburn, and Batista?
Wow. I justed looked at the USA Today’s Salary database for the 2008 team. $1M or greater salaries off the books from last year include:
Bloomquist, Willie $1,000,000
Ibanez, Raul $5,500,000
Putz, J.J. $4,400,000
Sexson, Richie $15,500,000
Vidro, Jose $8,500,000
Wilkerson, Brad $3,000,000
Sometimes I forget just how much salary the M’s have already cleared. With Washburn, Batista, and Beltre’s deals ending in 2009, I wonder what the team is going to do with it’s newfound salary headroom. I also wonder when Felix is going to get resigned and am still hoping there is money for Beltre to stay too.
I just don’t want the M’s to be like the Angels and have Beltre walk at the end of next season and have the M’s go into a Boras bidding war. The M’s have the $$ to get the extension done now for both him and Felix…
I almost wish the Angels would sign him, and then have him decline, and then have his contract be an albatross around their necks for years, while we get good starting in 2010.
I’ve been following the Nationals (because I’m a masochist and the Mariners are technically not the worst major league team) and I really don’t think they should be looking to sign Teixeira. They’ve got a ton of holes to fill, are years from being competitive, and shouldn’t waste the draft picks and dollars on one position.
Not that I’d like to see the Red Sox win more games…but I kind of hope Tex goes there instead of DC. At least in Boston, Tex can be viewed as the one player they need to “put them over the top.” In DC he doesn’t even put the team whithin spitting distance of the ladder that goes to the top.
He’s going to the Orioles or Boston, by my judgment.
Since several commenters mention the Red Sox as a likely destination for Teixeira:
What use do they have for him? Youkilis seems like a pretty good solution at first base for them.
Asking what the BoSox would do is like asking us what our cats are going to do today. They could do a lot of things, most of them things we didn’t forsee happening.
Tex is not Richie Sexson. While I don’t think giving an 8 year deal to any ballplayer in their late-20’s is an awesome idea, I doubt it’ll end up an epic fail contract.
Angels are burdened by aging veterans that cost too much. — Philosofool
Amazingly, the Angels only have 5 guys signed beyond this year and only two signed beyond 2010 as of today. They only have 38 mil in guaranteed contracts after 09, to only four players including Matthews idiotic contract.
Guess nobody noticed but they quietly did a rebuild down there. Most of their roster is either under control or arbitration eligible.
Looks like they will have the money to reload/retain players but losing Teix really helps out the division.
The Angels announcing that they are out of the bidding doesn’t mean anything. Its nothing more than a negotiating tactic. They don’t want Boras to use their bid as a leveraging point to get more money from the Yanks, B-more, Nationals, or anyone else. All it means is the made a bid and Tex didn’t sign it.
Are we a laughably weak division? Are we the NL West or NL Central of recent years?
I will believe a Scott Boras statement like this one when I can build a snowman in my front yard.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I have been out of town for awhile – how did you know?
*Limited sample size alert*
2006-08 splits vs Seattle:
Teixeira 292/394/590 187 PA
K-Rod 24.2 IP/19 HA/25 K/5 BB
Laird 268/359/357 125 PA
Good riddance to those three I guess. Dunn has killed the M’s in the 15 or so PA he has against us while Holliday has struggled in his ~15 PA. The small sample sizes make those numbers kind of meaningless though.
You meant totally meaningless.
True. I tend to understate things.
Philosofool: the Rangers have a tsunami of young pitching coming. The question will be if they can do what it takes (fielders, coaching, support, fixing their ballpark) to keep all those phenomenal young arms from completely cratering.
[has its own thread now]