Mark Teixeira Traded To Angels

Angels fan here - NOT loving the deal.

This is a definite win now move - forget about the future. And if we do win it all then my attitude changes. Anything short of a WS ring will be a huge disappointment.

The Halos were already going to win the division hands down. Tex is brought in to do one thing and that's a lot to ask for one guy.

I'm not a huge fan of resigning the guy at the rumored $20m+ rate either. If his price comes down to $17-19m then maybe.

Braves fans you did well. Kotchman will be a very solid 1st baseman for the next several years. You will really like him.

The top 15 draft picks are protected anyway so either Tex signs at low 1st round or the O's and we get a supplemental pick and a 2nd round pick. Kotchman has an OPS+ of 101 in a PITCHERS park against AL pitchers. He'll do a bit better in the A.

I'm an Angel fan and I love this deal. I appreciate Kotchman, but Teix is in a different league. I'm of the opinion that pitching performances like the ones the Angels have been getting don't come around all that often, so they have to take their shot.

Braves got a very good player in Kotch. Being part of the "Angel family," I'm glad he's going to a good situation with a great manager in Cox and one of the classiest players in the game in Chipper.

I think it's win/win.

Ari,
Whatever you're smokin, pass some over this way. I'g love to check out of reality for a while. Go take a peek at the Angels record vs. the AL East teams this year and get come back to earth bro.

Not trying to be a total homer but damn. When you take the best record in baseball and say they're a .500 team. Give me a friggin break.

"I'm surprised the Halos didn't give up a little more for Tex, but Kotchman is a solid player."

I'm surprised the Angels gave up so much and the Braves took so little. The Angels seemed dead set against trading Kotchman and the Braves seemed to want more than just Kotchman and a throw away. In the end, it is a pretty fair deal for a rental. The Braves couldn't expect the same value the Pirates would ask for with Bay and what the A's got for Haren, because Tex is either a rental or a very expensive signing for the Angels.

"Angels have 10 more games against the Yankees and three more in Tampa Bay."

The Yankees? You know what the Angels have done to the Yankees since Mike Scioscia has been manager?

"If the Angels really want Tex, it's going to take a package like Kotchman, Adenhart and Chris Pettit"

In hindsight that was hysterical. Thanks for the laugh.

"There hasn't been a team in baseball more ravaged by injuries to key players than the Angels."

Might want to retract that. The Braves have been much more injury riddled than the Angels this year.

Smoltz (ace, gone for season)
Hudson (#2/ace, gone for season & next season)
Glavine (#3, barely pitched this year)
Hampton (#4, has made 1 start)
Moylan (top SU man, gone for season)
Soriano (Closer, has barely pitched)
McCann (all-star catcher, just got a concussion)
Chipper (just placed on DL)
Escobar (been on DL)
Kotsay (been on DL)
Matt Diaz (starting LF, barely played this year)
Omar Infante (top UT, been on DL)
Mike Gonzalez (missed 3 months)
Martin Prado (#2 UT, been on DL most of year)
Jeff Bennett (good reliever, been on DL)

And I'm sure I'm overlooking a few ...

Wow I can't believe the Angels finally made a deal for a great hitter and Ari how can you say the Angels are the 7th best team in baseball that is a just a pisted off red sox fan the the Angels are kicking their as all year long and the Angels own the Yankees whoever said oh they still have 10 games with the yankees the Yanks should be saying oh crap we have 10 games against the angels

Looking back at this deal and digesting it with the Hunter contract, I have come to a conclusion. In Tony Reagins, the Angels have a GM with a big set of balls. He took a chance paying above market to lock up Torii Hunter and it seems to be working, because Hunter has been doing some timely hitting and playing his usual defense, while Stoneman's sign, GMJ, looks to have been felled by nagging injuries and poor timing. Now he made a deal to pull in Tex despite knowing he could bolt, but is hoping a taste of playoff success will keep him beyond this season.

He sure as hell isn't Ned Colletti

"There hasn't been a team in baseball more ravaged by injuries to key players than the Angels."

bjsguess - I think Braves fans would disagree with you on this one.

Really, Ari? Is it 12.5%? Fascinating. I think there's a 100% chance of me calling you a d-bag...oh wait, there it was. Why don't you take your 'numerical research' and 'complicated math'; your calculator and slide rule, and shove 'em where the sun don't shine. Or to be exact: where the sun don't shine 99.92% of the time.

I'm not sure when all the friggin' geeks decided that baseball was cool...as long as they didn't have to play it, but ENOUGH! Instead of slobbering all over Bill James' junk, how 'bout watching the game once in a while? It's actually pretty enlightening; much more so- I'd argue- than your equations and whatnot. After all, while every playoff team may have a 12.5% chance of winning it all, anyone last year, could've told you that the Red Sox's odds were a LOT higher; similarly, anyone who's watched an Angels game (full disclosure: I'm an O's fan, so I don't have a dog in this fight), knows that the same can be said for the Halos this year.

And while it may have defied your statistical analysis, the D'backs DID, indeed, win 90 games last year and I think, talent-wise, that it was in line with their personnel...after all, isn't pulling off close games a talent in its own right? Do relievers not count, talent-wise? Again, you might know this were you to watch a game now and then...oh, and I don't mean sitting there, charting pitches and writing formulas in the margins!

It's guys like you that drive me crazy and long for the pre-James-ian days of baseball analysis, when people didn't need math to know the value of a Vlad Guerrero or Hanley Ramirez. Then again, if you ever get a gig as a Vegas handicapper, PLEASE give me the heads up...I'll take 8:1 odds on the Angels winning this year in a HEARTBEAT!

I was not happy with much of the analysis leading up to the Texeira trade. It seems that many of the writers and sports casters, commenting on the possibility of him being traded, believed that the Braves had no choice but to try and trade him for something better than the two draft picks they would get if he left as a free agent.

It seems to me that the only way for the Braves to win in this situation was to sign Texeira and keep him. I don't see what was so bad with that option. So, he is expensive. In five years, that money will seem like a deal, with the way salaries are escalating. Think back on some of the deals we thought to be expensive at the time and compare them to today's baseball economics.

I didn't hear anything about Texeira wanting out of Atlanta or not being willing to sign with the Braves or hear any trade demands being made. So, basically all they had to do was pony up 18 to 20 million per season over five plus years and this would have been a moot point. With Texeira being a proven and consistent producer, I fail to see why this was not option one for the Braves organization. You don't let young talent walk and you don't give it away for nothing, as they did in the Angels trade.