Teixeira Boston Bound?

December 16, 2008   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

The Boston Herald is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have offered free agent slugger Mark Teixeira a contract, a significant contract. The deal is reportedly for at least eight years, the dollar figures are unknown thou. Many sources are saying the figure could be between $22 and $28 million. That dollar figure actually makes a lot of sense. Teixeira is the premier hitter on this years market and the premier pitcher just received $21 million per season, so shouldn’t the everyday player get more? The $28 million would also be slightly more then New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez gets paid. Will the Red Sox go that high probably not but its safe to assume the contract would fall in that range. The big question is will Teixeira take the deal?

Teixeira’s agent is none other than Scott Boras, so one would naturally assume it will come down to the money and nothing else. If that is the case you have to consider the Red Sox the front runners. There have been reported offers from the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, all expected to be in the range of eight years worth $140 to $165 million. I have no doubt in my mind thou that the Red Sox will dwarf this amount, you know because of the Yankees offseason spending spree.

This is just simply a move Boston has to make, if not to keep up with the Yanks but to keep up with the lineup of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox lineup wasn’t the same after the trade of Manny Ramirez. Anyone who believes differently is just plain crazy, it was. Yea they were successful but it was no longer a lineup that struck fear into pitchers. Big Papi? He’s just David Ortiz now, the wear and tear has taken its toll, and he’s just not as deadly anymore. Mike Lowell? He’s a solid hitter but just that. Same thing with Kevin Youkilis, even thou he’s extremely clutch. The only player in that lineup I’d really fear is Dustin Pedroia and you know what? He’s a table setter. If they can add a true cleanup hitter to that lineup like Tex, that table setter really becomes deadly.

To go back to the Yanks spending spree, you’d have to say the Sox can’t be shut out of this free agent market, especially after the Yankees significant upgrade of their rotation and the Red Sox just pretty much standing pat. What would be even worse for the Sox is if the Yankees swept in and stole Tex. The Yankees are keeping quiet, saying they are no longer interested but does anyone really believe that? If Tex says he wants to be a Yankee, good ol’ Hank will be sending a proposal right to him.

Boston’s making their move and I think they’ll up the offer to what they have to. General Manager Theo Epstein has been brilliant over the last few years, I will give him that. He’s known when to pay a player, and when not and he’s never once grossly overpaid for a star. Tex is a whole different story thou and Epstein knows that, that’s why the offer is out there. I don’t think he’ll let him slip away either.

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