Trade Teixeira ASAP!

[monosylab1k]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070706&content_id=2071694&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Notes: Teixeira interested in Orioles
Slugger welcomes thought of returning home as free agent
By Ken Daley / Special to MLB.com

Mark Teixeira will be a free agent after next season and is interested in Baltimore. (LM Otero/AP)

ARLINGTON -- If Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira really is the short-timer in Texas that most believe, Orioles fans, players and executives might be delighted to hear their team seemingly tops his list of dream destinations.
"I grew up as a diehard Orioles fan, there's no secret about that," said Teixeira, the switch-hitting slugger and Gold Glove infielder who was Maryland's High School Player of the Year in 1997-98 for Mount St. Joseph's.

"My family still lives in Severna Park [Md.], and they'll probably live there the rest of their lives. So, it's definitely a good story. I don't think about [playing for Baltimore] too much, because I'm a Texas Ranger. In a year and a half, we'll have some fun conversations."

Teixeira, 27, is one of the most attractive players who might be moved before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline, mainly because he is 15 months from free agency. He is owed $9 million this season and is arbitration-eligible in 2008, his final year under the Rangers' contractual control.

With hard-nosed negotiator Scott Boras as his agent, the Rangers harbor no illusions that Teixeira will offer them a hometown discount on his next contract or forego testing his open-market value as a free agent after next season. Teixeira has been frustrated by the Rangers' losing and frequent rebuilding, and the club knows trading him before next season might give them the best possible return on its investment.

A strained quadriceps landed Teixeira on the disabled list June 9, ending his club-record streak of 507 consecutive games played. The injury has hampered the ability of Rangers general manager Jon Daniels to make a preemptive trade this month, but Teixeira said he expects to rejoin the Rangers' lineup next Friday in Anaheim.

Teixeira, who was hitting .302 with 12 homers and 41 RBI in 61 games, termed his desire to play for Baltimore as "obvious."

"But, at the same time, I'm a Texas Ranger," he added. "I have a year and a half left here in Texas. Unless I get traded somewhere else, I'm going to be a Texas Ranger and try to win with this team here. That's what my No. 1 goal is right now. But Baltimore, obviously in the future, is a place I'd love to look at."

[monosylab1k]

This guy has no intention of staying with Texas once his contract is up. He's under contract to this team and seems almost gleeful in discussing where he'll be once his time here is over. He's not committed, he doesn't care, ship him the fuck out.

[ATRAIN]

Damn and I thought he was a lifer.

[monosylab1k]

At the same time, this is still Tom Hicks' fault. If he didn't change organizational philosophies every 6 months and refuse to commit to making this team a winner, Tex would probably be very happy to stick around.

[ATRAIN]

sorry to hear that, he is a great player.

[florige]

You guys might end up getting Cabrera out the deal. I'm surprised he would want to play for us just because we are his hometown. We suck just as bad, if not worse than the Rangers.

[ATRAIN]

You guys might end up getting Cabrera out the deal. I'm surprised he would want to play for us just because we are his hometown. We suck just as bad, if not worse than the Rangers.


MIguel Cabrera?

[BeerIsGood!]

It may be coincidence that the team started playing damn good ball immediately after he went down, but he does seem a bit aloof and unhappy with the Rangers. If that's the case, why pay this guy another dime to suit up for you if he's unhappy and already talking about going elsewhere 18 months in advance? Jon Daniels needs to keep his mouth shut, refuse to talk about the situation, and keep working hard making moving Tex, Sosa, and possibly Gagne for the best possible pieces to make the starting rotation and team stronger.

[Melmart1]

You know, it's funny... the Rangers this year are such a mystery.... I was sooo ready to jump on the "they are better w/o TEX" bandwagon... then I read this entry at LoneStarBall.com which for my money is the BEST Rangers info site out there...


Next, Bob tried to make the point that perhaps the Rangers have been buying into Ron Washington's patience at the plate theory since Mark Teixeira has been out. Since Tex had the fight with Wash about being patient early in the season, his theory was that players were getting in line behind Tex, but with Tex out of the lineup they are now getting in line behind Wash. Now there are lots of ways to measure this, but the simplest is number of pitches per plate appearance. Oakland, Boston and the Yankees are continuously at the top in this category which reflects what we believe to be their batters ability to work pitchers. Teixeira has been out 30 days, so it works out to use stats from the last 30 days (courtesy MLB.com). In that stretch, the Rangers are averaging 3.83 P/PA. Prior to that, with Tex in the lineup, the Rangers were averaging 3.87 P/PA. They ranked 5th in the AL on both counts. Bottom line is that there is no evidence in the NP/PA numbers to suggest that the Ranger have been any more patient with Tex out of the lineup than with Tex in the lineup (if anything, they have seen fewer pitches in his absence). YTD Boston, Cleveland, Oakland and NYY are the top four teams with Texas ranking 5th in NP/PA.http://lonestarball.com/story/2007/7/9/14261/34237

So basically, what the numbers are showing is that the current Rangers surge has nothing to do with Tex out of the lineup, but instead with the resrugence of starting pithching, such as Loe being nearly lights-out, Millwood being awesome his last few starts and McCarthy being great again, despite the fact that the team nearly got no-hit on his last outing.

Sooo.... I am not "sold" on any corner but I am not so sure that it has to do with Tex being some kind of clubhouse poison as has been suggested. Perhaps it really is the starting pitching, and the offensive confidence that comes with knowing your SP won't allow 5 runs in the first couple of innings.

So... if it really is just SP, then perhaps Tex can only help? Food for thought.

[BeerIsGood!]

You know, it's funny... the Rangers this year are such a mystery.... I was sooo ready to jump on the "they are better w/o TEX" bandwagon... then I read this entry at LoneStarBall.com which for my money is the BEST Rangers info site out there...

http://lonestarball.com/story/2007/7/9/14261/34237

So basically, what the numbers are showing is that the current Rangers surge has nothing to do with Tex out of the lineup, but instead with the resrugence of starting pithching, such as Loe being nearly lights-out, Millwood being awesome his last few starts and McCarthy being great again, despite the fact that the team nearly got no-hit on his last outing.

Sooo.... I am not "sold" on any corner but I am not so sure that it has to do with Tex being some kind of clubhouse poison as has been suggested. Perhaps it really is the starting pitching, and the offensive confidence that comes with knowing your SP won't allow 5 runs in the first couple of innings.

So... if it really is just SP, then perhaps Tex can only help? Food for thought.

The difference is definitely starting pitching, but it's possible that the clubhouse vibe has improved since he's been out and that everyone (including pitchers) are more relaxed - but no one outside the clubhouse or front office knows for sure. If the Rangers keep going strong with Tex back that may be an indicator that better play in his absense is purely coincidental, but it still doesn't change that he apparently wants out of Arlington when his contract runs out. Unless they can work out a long term deal sometime soon (ala Young), I'd be all for shipping him off this summer if the right deal is there or over the off season if not.

[monosylab1k]

You know, it's funny... the Rangers this year are such a mystery.... I was sooo ready to jump on the "they are better w/o TEX" bandwagon... then I read this entry at LoneStarBall.com which for my money is the BEST Rangers info site out there...

http://lonestarball.com/story/2007/7/9/14261/34237

So basically, what the numbers are showing is that the current Rangers surge has nothing to do with Tex out of the lineup, but instead with the resrugence of starting pithching, such as Loe being nearly lights-out, Millwood being awesome his last few starts and McCarthy being great again, despite the fact that the team nearly got no-hit on his last outing.

Sooo.... I am not "sold" on any corner but I am not so sure that it has to do with Tex being some kind of clubhouse poison as has been suggested. Perhaps it really is the starting pitching, and the offensive confidence that comes with knowing your SP won't allow 5 runs in the first couple of innings.

So... if it really is just SP, then perhaps Tex can only help? Food for thought.

that could definitely be the case. Kameron Loe could have alot more to do with this spark than the absence of Tex.....but regardless they need to trade this guy because he has no intention of sticking around once his contract is up.

[dallaskd]

Tex wants to go to Baltimore until the yanks through 120 million at him.

[BUMP]

MIguel Cabrera?

:wtf

Daniel Cabrera. Miguel plays for the Marlins.

[ATRAIN]

:wtf

Daniel Cabrera. Miguel plays for the Marlins.




Yeah I know that, I just thought it could have been a multiple team trade.

[BeerIsGood!]

Notes: Rangers won't have fire sale (http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070712&content_id=2083355&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex)

Owner say any trades would need to benefit team long-term



ANAHEIM -- Rangers owner Tom Hicks made it clear Thursday.
The Rangers are not getting ready to have a fire sale as they approach the July 31 trade deadline.

"That's a figment of the imagination among certain members of the media," Hicks said as the Rangers get ready to open the second half of the season against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Friday night.

"There will be no fire sale," Hicks said. "If we have a chance to improve our club for 2008 and 2009, we will do it. But if we don't like what's out there, we won't do it. The good thing about losing free agents is you can still get draft picks as compensation."

The Rangers enter the second half in last place in the American League West, 15 games behind the Angels. They are also getting heavy interest from other clubs in relievers Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka.

But they have also won 15 of their last 23 games, and Hicks is feeling much better about his team as it enters the second half. There is a strong sentiment to ride out this hot streak and see where it takes them. "Clearly we have 2 1/2 weeks before the deadline," Hicks said. "If we can stay on this same path, I'd like to see where it takes us. In the middle of May we were all very discouraged. I was so frustrated when we lost those three games to Tampa Bay and then I talked to Ron Washington and he told me he thought they had turned it around. "I didn't believe him, but it turns out he was right."

Yes, Hicks did see what Mark Teixeira said Thursday about his desire to play for a winner, that the Rangers still had a lot of work to do and the window was closing.

"I was very disappointed with his statements, but I'm not going to talk about it publicly," Hicks said.

Instead, Hicks prefers to focus on the good things that have happened to the Rangers lately in the hopes that they will continue.

"The first half was a roller-coaster," Hicks said. "We had a great first half and we all expected to come out of the game strong. For a lot of reasons, it didn't happen. Guys were pressing and it took a long time for the manager and the players to get to know each other and get on the same page.

"But you've got to like what's happened lately. The starting pitching has made a big difference and Ron Washington has proven to be an excellent manager. When we get pitching, we are a very good club. I like the way we've been playing."

Otsuka still aching: Otsuka apparently is still not 100 percent in his right elbow.

Otsuka, who was sidelined for the last seven games of the first half because of discomfort in the elbow, played catch during a workout at Angel Stadium on Thursday for about 10 minutes, and he said he was feeling better.

The Rangers aren't expecting to have to put him on the disabled list.

"My expectation is he's going to be a pitcher for us this week," general manager Jon Daniels said.

Diaz going down: The Rangers are planning to option outfielder Victor Diaz to Triple-A Oklahoma to make room for first baseman Mark Teixeira, who is coming off the disabled list after missing over a month with a strained quadriceps muscle.

Teixeira played a full game at first base for Double-A Frisco on Wednesday night on medical rehabilitation assignment and said he was happy with the results. He worked out with the rest of the team Thursday at Angel Stadium.

"I'm 100 percent," Teixeira said. "I feel great. I'm ready to start playing."

Diaz hit .259 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs in 37 games and 104 at-bats during his time with the Rangers.

[monosylab1k]

FUCK TOM HICKS!

all this bullshit he's spinning is his way of saying "we're winning a few more games so i'm going to try to milk this thing out in hopes of salvaging our poor attendance this year. I'm far more interested in making money now than winning in the future."

that man has completely ruined this organization. and now we're going to keep Tex around and lose him in free agency for FUCKING NOTHING. GODDAMMIT I FUCKING HATE TOM HICKS!!!!!!!

[monosylab1k]

"The good thing about losing free agents is you can still get draft picks as compensation."

in other words, the good thing about losing free agents is that you wind up spending zero dollars. trading him away now means having to pay whoever you trade him for and decide whether extending their contracts is a good idea. Draft picks don't come around for another 4 or 5 years and you don't have to pay them shit.

i swear it is ALL ABOUT MONEY for Hicks. He has no interest whatsoever in making this team a winner.

[StylisticS]

Then he goes out and has this type of game today. LOL. A double in the top of the 8th to bring Texas within one than he scores the tying run in that same inning. Then he hits a homerun in the top of the 11th to give Texas a 5-4 lead and the eventual win today.