Where Will Teixeira Sign?

It's a slam dunk that the Yankees will sign him.

1) Orioles have sent overtures, but in the middle of a huge rebuilding process, why would they spend 120 million on a 1b?

2) The Yankees have a huge amount coming off the books next year, something like 60 to 80 million. They are set everywhere (good young pitching too), except for 1b, and Teixera is pretty much the best 1b/free agent in the next couple of years.

Maybe Im crazy but I think the Braves find a way to resign him (especially if they do well this year).

fter adding Bedard/Silva to Seattle's rotation...don't count them out!

Next offseason (just like the Yanks) Seattle has a TON of salary coming off the books...approximately $43M!!!

Sexson $14M
Vidro $8.5M ($6M Seattle portion)
Wilkerson $5M (counting $2M incentives)
Ibanez $5.5M
Johjima $5.5M
Ho Ramirez $2.75M
Bloomquist $1M
Cairo $850k

But there are 3 players that get a "little" raise Putz/Betancourt/Lopez combine for an add'l $3M in 2009. So basically, Seattle's got an even $40M next offseason.

I can even see them trading out Washburn next offseason...for another $10M in savings, and getting a few prospects back (maybe) in this pitchers market.

Wow...$50M?! What can Seattle do with $52M for next offseason?

Do they resign Johjima when you have Clement ready NOW? Or end up getting draft picks for Johjima next offseason and run with Clements power LHB @ Safeco?!

Do you resign Ibanez @ 1B to replace Sexson?!

Here's what I'd do if Bavasi ended up trading away Washburn & his contract:

1) Sign Teixeira for $20-22M for 6-7 yrs
2) Sign Dunn or $18M or 5-6 yrs
3) Move Morrow into the #5 spot, and fill the BP slots with our deep RPs from the minors OR keep Morrow in setup role and just sign Oliver Perez for $10-12M

That takes up the entire amount "if" they bring in Oliver Perez. If they don't just keep Morrow in setup status & resign Johjima & run with Clement as our fulltime DH in 2009.

My point of all of this is that Seattle got tons of $$$ to throw at Tex!

BUT with Giambi's $22M coming off the books, I'd put money on Yanks offering Giambi's salary to Tex @ $22M/year!

Can you imagine "if" Seattle ONLY added Tex AND Dunn in 2009, and resigned Johjima w/Clement at DH?...and kept their SPs in tack for 2009?

Seattle would be YOUNG and pretty damn tough in 2009 & beyond!

calm down redsox fans, hes not going to boston. between need and money not happening. maybe baltimore but i dont think so. it will be a cold day when the braves open up the checkbooks so i would bet no there. the obvious plsce he goes is the yankees. they have a big need and tons of money, not to mention hes the best player available. one guy said something about his family would shun him. i dont know what thats about but i dont think anyone on the history of the planet with a 120 million dollar salary has ever been shunned by their family. he signs with the yankees. it makes sense.

And plus, why would Tex want to spend the rest of his career in one of the worst franchises in sports? Really? Maybe thats the area he is from, but who cares, wouldnt you think he would care about winning? I love the knicks, and I live in NY, but that doesnt mean I would sign my last big, longterm contract with them knowing that there is absolutely no chance that they have any success at all while I am there. That is the Tex situation. There is like a .001 percent chance that the O's even make the playoffs one time from 2008-2015, so why bother if you are Tex? Doesnt make sense to me at all.

The Red Sox won't bring in Teixeira because they will be too busy shopping for a starter and a LF. Their corner infield positions are filled for a couple years, so Youkilis isn't going to move to 3B to make room and forget about Youkilis' lack of range being stuck in LF!

The Yankees are seriously irritated with Scott Boras after the crap he pulled with A-Hole and I'd be seriously surprised to see any player force them to the table with the super agent. I think they can and will look elsewhere.

The Orioles will be more competitive by next season, but their biggest problem will be pitching and I think Teixeira will absolutely avoid at all costs playing for a team that has no aces internally and who won't find many options on free agency. Unless they go after Sabathia concurrently, I don't see him going to Baltimore.

The Braves let Andruw Jones go and he was a similar offensive producer, a much better defender, and was a homegrown talent who will in hindsight, cost Atlanta far less money than Teixeira. Also Kotsay's contract was almost entirely paid for by the Athletics, so they really aren't going to have $25MM to throw around. They'll also have some in-house players who need to have their contracts re-evaluated by that point!

The Royals have Butler, Shealy, Gload, etc. at 1B, so I HIGHLY doubt that they are going to break the bank on Teixeira. If he played a prime position like CF or SS then I could see them signing him to 20MM/year, but for a player whose position is 1B, they aren't the one! I don't see Mark running to play for a team that is even with him, 4th in the division behind Detroit, Cleveland, and Minnesota.

I think the three most likely destinations from the list above are Seattle, NY Mets, and San Fran! These three teams have some of the best pitching staffs around and Seattle heads the list. The Mariners have shown a willingness to sit at the table with Boras and will have the most glaring hole at 1B next season. No other team lacks the internal options for 1B, so this will be an all or nothing attempt. If they are still without a long-term deal for Bedard, a Teixeira signing could be the desiding factor in whether Seattle will keep Erik long-term. The next team would be the Mets as they keep him on the east coast, have the money to spend, and they'll have a need unless Delgado has a .300 AVG, 30HR, 100 RBI season, in which case he'd be a much cheaper option when compared with what Teixeira will get on the FA market. The Giants could be a strong suitor with a huge hole at 1B, but it's all about whether Sabean will break his avoidance of under-30 FAs! I think they are poised for big things in San Fran, but don't rule out the Giants GM from screwing this one up and letting him sign elsewhere!

My pick is Seattle, because they need a huge FA signing for their offense more than any other team especially if they are trying to impress Bedard so he'll sign long-term. I also see the Mariners bringing in Griffey Jr. to play RF and then replacing Ibanez in LF with Balentien. Ibanez would become a 100-120 game backup at LF/RF/1B/DH while Vidro, Wilkerson, and Sexson would come off the books. Clement becomes a full-time DH who'll catch occasionally and they'll keep Burke or Johnson as their backup to Kenji Johjima who'll definitely re-sign with Seattle. Again, 1B is a glaring hole that'll need to be filled!

I think the O's have a great shot at signing Tex. He has mentioned coming home and being the leader of his childhood favorite team.

nrmax.........one of the worst franchises in sports?? Now you are just showing your ignorance. Yes, the O's have been bad for the past decade, but that was because of a bad owner (which seems to have allowed somebody else to do baseball business). But to say the worst team in sports, well, we can all tell you dont know what you are talking about.

And we traded away bedard to get more younger players. No, getting tex would not defeat the purpose. The team is trying to compete in 2010, so signing Tex after the 08 season, and having him in 09 to gell with the team makes perfect sense.

I think the O's have a 35% chance of signing him, but seeing how this year goes, will determine that also. Macphail needs to show he is in it to win, and not be Angelos's puppet.

BaseballGuru said:

"The Braves let Andruw Jones go and he was a similar offensive producer, a much better defender"

Andruw was great, and great for the Braves, but he isn't similar offensively to Teixeira - even disregarding last year. Teixeira's batting average will be at least 40 points higher, his OBP will be significantly higher and he's a way better clutch/RISP hitter. He's also probably the best defensive first baseman in the game. Just because the Braves didn't want to give an 8 year/$160 million dollar contract to a physically declining player doesn't mean they wouldn't give one to a younger, healthier and better-all-around player.

Like someone said above, if Boras won't let Ollie sign an extension, there's no way he lets Teixeira sign one... especially with the both the Yankees and Mets having openings at 1B.

Youk was never an outfielder.

Starting in 2001 when he was in A- ball, Youk has logged 2,171 innings at 1B, 845 innings at 3B, and 7 innings at 2B. The only time he has EVER played the OF was 134 innings in 2006.

BaseballGuru - "The Braves let Andruw Jones go and he was a similar offensive producer, a much better defender, and was a homegrown talent who will in hindsight, cost Atlanta far less money than Teixeira."

Change your handle immediately, b/c you known nothing about baseball if you think Andruw and Tex are similiar offensive producers. And a better defender? Andruw plays the hardest OF position and Tex plays the easiest IF postion...so yeah, I would hope Andruw is a better defender (Tex has a Gold Glove by the way, maybe 2, so that statement holds even less weight).

I also find it funny how skeetersos is so hurt when nrmax says the O's are one of the worst franchises in sports, but then admits the exact fact by confirming their decade long losing streak.

Wow, lots of excitement from this post. I think the Red Sox won't be in because the idea that they don't bring Manny back seesm crazy to me. He had his worst season since 1994 last year, but it's probably more due to injuries/bad luck than anything else. now he's playing for a contract, so expect big numbers. And wouldn't the Sox rather have Manny at $20mm on a 1 year deal with another club option for 2010 than giving a long-term deal to someone else?

Yanks probably will be in on this, though, as a Yankee fan, I'm hoping more than anything that CC goes on the market and they devote any and all resources to signing him...please.

Mariners are my best guess. Although be careful when talking about how much money teams will have to spend, these teams do need to replace the guys that will be FAs. I think the M's will be dissapointed this year because their offense is terrible (unless they sign Bonds). I think they'll learn a lesson from this season, which is you actually need to score runs to win games. Look for them to resign Johjima and Ibanez, but not Sexson ($14mm) or Vidro ($8.5mm) and use the money to sign Texiera. One problem: Vidro was given a vesting option for 2009 as part of his agreement to waive his no trade clause to go to Seattle. Can't find the details of the option anywhere, but as best as I can tell it's tied to plate appearances. Another reason to sign Bonds - keep Vidro's PAs down

Everyone's loyal to a club, but don;t let that affect your thinking.

Orioles - Angelos does some crazy things so I'm not gonna say that they won't sign him. HOWEVER, this would make no sense. they are rebuilding and to spend the 20-25 million a year to sign Tex would not make much sense.

Mets - I could see it although they're gonna lose Perez next year, so don't you think they would much rather spend the money on Sabathia or Sheets??? I mean, that makes more sense. Next year they're gonna lose 3 starters. Perez, Pedro and El Duque. They can have Pelfrey pitch, but they are gonna have to spend a little on FA pitching.

Red Sox - When do they ever spend on something they DO NOT need. If they did that they would've pulled the trigger for Santana this year. They spend, but they don't spend aimlessly. That's not Epstein. He's a smart guy and he doesn't like to limit himself. He doesn't need Tex cause of Youkalis, so why would he spend 20 mil on him? He would spend the money on pitching before anything else. The Red Sox just don;t spend more than say...15 million on a guy, unless ur Manny. That's just not the way they do business.

Mariners - This does make sense, but how they dot his season will make a huge difference in their decision making process. They need Bedard to stay so they need to compete, but I don't know if they'll be willing to pay Tex 22, 23, 25 million. I mean, they're paying Ichiro 18, is Tex really that much better than him??? I know he hits HRs, but Ichiro is a hit machine. I think if their offense is abysmal this year and they lose the division to the Angels by 5, 6 games, then they think about it, but I don't know if they are willing to spend that kind of money, when they will have to pay Bedard a big chunk in a few years. They do have a hole, a big hole, but there are other options than paying a guy 20 mil.

Braves - Hmmm, interesting. They might, but there's no way he signs with them on an extension. No way. Boras is his agent, and Boras knows how valuable this guy is. Especially when the Yankees have a HUGE hole at first base and the Mariners want to compete and Angelos is potentially there to do something insane. They will put in a bid, probably one of the best, and Tex might resign with.

Giants - They want someone to replace Bonds. But they know how Bonds crippled them, and I don't know if they want that again. 20 something million dollars is a lot of money and money like that can cripple a club. they other things. i just don't see it. They can fill in three other holes instead of just one with that kind of money. They see what happenned to Barry Zito. They pulled the trigger once before and look how that worked out. No, they don't do anything with him.

Yankees - They make sense. They do have a ton of money coming off and they do have a big hole. But things never seem to go the logical way. Plus, recently they haven't been crazy in the FA market. I think this would be a great sign. To have him and A-rod would scare a lot of pitchers. I definitley think they make a play. With 60 million coming off this year and another 25 next year with Damon and Matsui, I mean why not right? It just makes sense. But things have a way of not going the way that makes the most sense.

Yes the Mets are losing Pedro, Perez, and El Duque, but they are also losing Alou and probably Delgado. The offense is going to have a glaring hole as well.

I think Teixeira, Pedro, FA SP, FA LF is possible.

People who are saying the Yankees will sign Teixera are overlooking some things.

Posada is going to have to shift to 1B/DH eventually...Jesus Montero a C/1B is coming up the minors and is a major prospect for the Yanks. I believe the Yankees will make CC Sabathia a heavier priority than Tex who has shown that he struggles for entire halfs at times. That is not something that goes over well in NYC...

I bet he goes to Baltimore -- that has always seemed to be the intent of the Orioles organization, and Tex himself.

Adding Teixeira to the Angels lineup would be lethal. the only way they get involved, though, is by either trading Kotchman or putting Tex back at 3B, which I'm sure he'd have to agree to.

Still a potential lineup of

Matthews LF
Hunter CF
Vlad RF
Teixeira 3B
Morales/Figgins DH
Kotchman 1B
Kendrick 2B
Napoli C
Wood SS

is nothing to laugh at.

There is no chance Texeira goes anywhere but Baltimore. He has ties to the city, said he would like to play there, and they are in great need of a guy with his power. Yes, Baltimore is rebuilding, but part of the rebuilding process is having guy to rebuild around. They have built up a stockpile of good, young arms, they have plenty of depth in the outfield, and with a Roberts trade they could add youth to the infield. As of right now, Markakis is the player Baltimore is building around, but without anyone hitting behind him he won't be effective for long. Typically Baltimore does not like to spend tons of money on one guy, but with the recent trades they have dealt nearly all of their big salaries for guys making next to nothing. Not to mention Peter Angelos deals in odd ways. He is known to become attached to certain players, such as Roberts, and as a result he will do anything he can to get those players. Texeira is one of those guys. So, at the end of this season Baltimore will have the three things Texeira is looking for: lots of money, an opening at first base, and a chance to lead his hometown team back to the glory years.

"nrmax.........one of the worst franchises in sports?? Now you are just showing your ignorance. Yes, the O's have been bad for the past decade, but that was because of a bad owner (which seems to have allowed somebody else to do baseball business). But to say the worst team in sports, well, we can all tell you dont know what you are talking about."

Okay, you win. The O's are a model franchise in which the likes of the Yankees, Redsox and such should all try to duplicate as soon as possible. Seriously? They are an absolutely horrid franchise. There is no way around it. I have no bias against Baltimore, they just are very, very, bad. And also, are you not familiar with hyperbole? Either way, saying that O's are the worst franchise in sports right now isnt much of a stretch.

Boras doesn't have to LET Tex re-sign, he can choose to NOT listen to Boras. Ultimately it's up to Tex. He can always go the A-Rod, Rogers, Sheffield route.....he's going to get P.A.I.D with or without Bor-ASS

To the people saying he'll go to Baltimore: No way he goes there without a GIANT payout. The reasons listed for going there are all outweighed by the fact that Baltimore won't be a contending team until Tex is past his prime.

He'll stay in Atlanta. They'll be able to afford the price tag, and in NY (the only other real contender for him), they'll be worrying about Sabathia and leaving a spot open for Posada in a year or two.

Tex to the Giants is a no go. It just doesn't make any sense for the Giants to consider him as an option.

1.) They just decided to pay Rowand about 12 million a year for the next 5 years.

2.) Their #1 prospect, Angel Vilalona has already been projected to move to 1st base

3.) With the #5 pick in the draft, and an organization most desperately in need of positional prospects, seems most likely the Giants will be considering Alvarez, Beckham, Smoak, Alonso, or Hosmer. Three of those five, and possibly four (Alvarez), project to be Major League 1st basemen at a fraction of the cost.

It would be a step in the right direction for a struggling franchise to lock up a player of Tex's caliber, but it makes more sense to keep the money and re-sign the young arms who will solidify the future of their rotation.

"Boras doesn't have to LET Tex re-sign, he can choose to NOT listen to Boras. Ultimately it's up to Tex. He can always go the A-Rod, Rogers, Sheffield route.....he's going to get P.A.I.D with or without Bor-ASS"

Yes, but then why would you ever hire the guy in the first place? He knows he can go play in Baltimore if he wants, or stay in Atlanta, but he will take less money to do so in one case, or be on a dreadful, dreadful team for the rest of his career in the other scenario. Guys who hire Boras are in it for the money. He could go without an aganet and still make 20 mil a year, trust me, he will do what Boras says.

And the thing is with the whole A-Rod situation, it is so funny how all of you buy into all of this crap, calling out Boras, blaming him fdor the whole thing, blah blah. Well, guess what, that means he did a perfect job. He took all the blame off A-Rod and onto himself, and he got A-Rod the biggest contract in the history of proffesional sports. Jeez. How horrible.

"he's going to get P.A.I.D with or without Bor-ASS"

Exactly, so if he cared about sentimental things like playing where he is comfortable or going close to home, why would he have hired Boras? The answer, because he doesnt care about those things, he wants the most money, and thats what Scott will get him.

Bedard will sign with Bluejays when he is a free agent.I would take Olson,Guthrie,Lowen,Penn,Patton,Cabrera over Seattles 3 threw 5 starters.Angels will take the division.Baltimore's young pitching is under rated,no pitching?Will seattle sign both Bedard and Teixeira? Sounds like around 40 million per yr to have both?Like I said BEDARD will be BLUE JAY!The Silva signing was crazy.

"And plus, why would Tex want to spend the rest of his career in one of the worst franchises in sports?"
O.K. nrmax88, ur stupid. yea the braves are one of the worst franchises in baseball. we have the 2nd best farm system (#1 is tampa bay) and we have won F.O.U.R.T.E.E.N count F.O.U.R.T.E.E.N straight divsional titles. i don't think the Yanks have won that many straight in a row. so i would watch my words before you say we suck. we are one of the most successful franchises in baseball and the most successful one in the NL east. Derek Jeter is set to play 1st after this season anyway and the shortstop vacancy is probably gonna be filled by someone such as Rafael Furcal or someone with that nature. just shut ur mouth before u know wat ur saying.