Teixeira Pines For Orioles
The Mark Teixeira-Orioles love affair continued tonight, as the Rangers welcomed Baltimore to town tonight for a series. Said Tex about the Orioles:
"In a year and a half, we’ll have some fun conversations. Baltimore, obviously in the future, is a place I’d love to look at."
Of course, he also said the typical cliches about being a Ranger and wanting to win in Texas. But you don’t often see a player under contract for an additional year and a half so openly talking about playing for another club. Teixeira also spoke of his willingness to chat with top Orioles draft pick Matt Wieters to help facilitate a deal. Both players have Scott Boras as their agent, and both went to Georgia Tech.
You may recall that 40% of the Orioles’ 25-man roster will reach free agency after the 2009 season. The O’s could backload a Teixeira contract to squeeze him in for the ’09 season. It is expected that the Orioles would have considerable competition from at least the Yankees.
Teixeira hopes to rejoin the Ranger lineup one week from now, leaving Jon Daniels two weeks to trade him before the deadline. There hasn’t been much buzz on him lately.
Orioles To Make Amends With Boras?
The Orioles have typically shied away from Scott Boras clients, but it stands to reason that yesterday’s selection of catcher Matt Wieters will re-open that door. If the O’s are able to sign Wieters by the August 15th deadline, perhaps they’ll consider Boras clients this winter.
Here’s a list of Boras free agents for the winter of 2007-08:
Eric Gagne
Andruw Jones
Kyle Lohse
Greg Maddux
Corey Patterson
Kenny Rogers
Jeff Weaver
Brad Wilkerson
Byung-Hyun Kim
The Orioles will be one of the clubs in the running for a center fielder, as it doesn’t seem likely Corey Patterson will be around next year. A Boras reconciliation would put Jones in play. One could also envision the O’s adding a crafty veteran like the Gambler.