Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Jenkins: Teixeira a Natural Yankee

From Lee Jenkins:

The caricature of the New York Yankees, drawn by the legions who resent them, is that they are 25 bat-wielding CEOs, dressed in button-down shirts and pinstriped suits, carrying Blackberrys and briefcases into a clubhouse that could double as a board room. They are clean-shaven, image-conscious, supremely wealthy and not a whole lot of fun.

Mark Teixeira will fit right into the caricature. Teammates joke that they have never seen him with a five-o-clock shadow, an un-tucked shirt, a hair out of place. One general manager describes him as "corporate" and "businesslike." Teixiera describes himself as "obsessive compulsive." Scott Boras, his agent, says Teixeira has "the make-up of a CEO." Some may be turned off that Teixeira does not often hang around the clubhouse after games, pounding beers and telling stories. But the Yankees, who pride themselves on their professional work environment, will not mind.

Even though Teixeira grew up in Baltimore, cheering for Cal Ripken Jr. and the Orioles, he is a natural Yankee. As a kid, he patterned himself after Don Mattingly. In high school, he played on some of the same fields as Babe Ruth. He loved the game, but he was also interested in the economics of it, just like any Yankee would be. By the time he was 24, Teixeira was already an assistant player representative to the union.

Teixeira's business sense is almost as legendary as his power to all fields. He turned down $1.5 million out of high school and made more than $9 million out of college. He then turned down $144 million from the Texas Rangers and cashed in Tuesday with the Yankees, reportedly for $180 million over eight years. The contract makes Teixeira the second-most expensive free agent in baseball history, trailing only you-know-who.

In courting Sabathia, the Yankees had to convince him that he would be comfortable in New York, a long way from his home state of California. In courting Teixeira, the Yankees did not have to do as much recruiting. He knew all about Yankee tradition and the Yankee way. He simply wanted Yankee money. On Tuesday, a perfect match was made.
I agree, he does fit that mold. He is a CEO type, and he's very business savvy, but that doesn't matter all that much to me.

What matters, and has always mattered, is that he's a switch-hitting, gold glove first baseman with a lifetime .378 on-base percentage and .541 slugging percentage. The Yankees just happened to need a first baseman just like him, and that was what made this the "perfect match."

Oh, and he's not afraid to do this if he needs to.

16 comments:

  1. Thats good so he is alot like Jeter and he will be fine fit in the clubhouse. He is a great player that plays the game the right way and he is not a distraction to the team like Manny would be what more could you want.

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  2. Exactly.

    The more I think about it the more I like this move, and that's coming from someone who has wanted the Yankees to get this guy for years, so yea, I really, really like this move.

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  3. Yeah also I really think they had to make this deal because a player like Teixiera is not available very often. Next year Matsui, Nady and Damon are all free agents they really needed him for the long-term.

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  4. I just got back to The City for three weeks and am delighted to hear this news. YES!!!

    If anyone has time for a beer to celebrate this move, e-mail me at mburduck@tntech.edu and perhaps we can meet up in Manhattan over the next three weeks for a brew or two. What a Christmas gift! Watch out this season!

    Mike

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  5. I made this... so it's exclusive to you Greg haha


    http://i40.tinypic.com/207urzd.jpg

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  6. Wow Pinstripes, great freaking job dude.

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  7. According to reports, each player's locker in the new Stadium will be equipped with n a computer, so that should keep these corporate types in the locker room a little longer, if only to check their stocks. j/k

    This is the most important signing of the offseason, imho. It indicates that the Yankees now have a strategy, and are no longer guided by a series of tactics, as they were in the latter years of George's tenure.

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  8. You know, looking back, this whole thing makes a lot more sense:

    First, you have the Sox flying out to Texas to meet with Tex, and they leave with Henry making the "we're not in the running" comment. Here was Boras' reply after Henry's comments:

    "The Boston ownership was kind enough to request and travel to meet with Mark Teixeira. While it was a very positive meeting Mark was candid and advised he is in the process of making a decision and is now attempting to eliminate teams."

    And I suggested that those comments sounded like Teixeira basically rejected the Red Sox. As it turns out, that may actually be what happened. The Red Sox, only to keep the bidding up, pretended to still have some interest, even though Teixeira probably made it clear that he didn't want to play for them.

    Now we find out that Teixeira supposedly had a "preference" for the Yankees all along, which would serve to back up the idea that Teixeira did indeed reject the Red Sox, not necessarily because of the contract offer, but because he wanted to play for the Yankees. Interesting. Not that it's particularly consequential in any way, but I always like it when a player doesn't just come to the Yankees for solely the money. Seems like even CC and AJ were somewhat partial to the Yankee history (Reggie Jackson's meeting with CC) and the potential of winning every year.

    Obviously money talks, but in the case of Tex, I think in the end it wasn't the extra $10M or so that made up his mind. More likely, it was a desire to play in NY - whatever the reason behind that desire was.

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  9. Great point, Pinstripes: it looks like Tex rejected the Sox, not that the Sox pulled out of the bidding. Perhaps those clowns at ESPN (see my other post) were trying to cover for the Sox! In reality, it seems that Tex wanted to be a Yankee all along!

    Mike

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  10. I was just watching a re-run on tonight's Daily News Live on SNY and Mark Feinsand was saying that he's been hearing some things about Teixeira still being angry at the Sox for something that happened when he was drafted. So I definitely think there is something to this.

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  11. While it would be a bit unfair to the current Red Sox ownership (the executive/ownership team is now completely different than when he was drafted by them), I do believe he could be harboring some resentment.

    I think moreso, though, it had to do with the Yankees just being a better overall option to him. The great new stadium, the Yankee history/tradition, and the (again, if healthy) considerably better team from 1-25. I think finishing 3rd last season has made everyone underestimate just how good the team is from top to bottom.

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  12. I am thinking that Teixeira was wearing a Yankee #23 t-shirt under his shirt and tie the entire time he met with Henry and Theo...And maybe, he took his jacket off and the sun was coming in the window just at the right angle for John Henry to see, what he thought was an interlocking NY underneath Tex's shirt!!! And that is what really killed the negotiations...

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  13. Hopefully that's true Pinstripes, it's always great when the Yankees sign someone who actually wants to be here.

    Peter,

    That would have been hilarious. Made them fly all the way to Texas to see him wearing a Yankees jersey.

    I really would love to know what went on at that meeting.

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  14. Me, too, Greg. That must have been a doozie of a meeting!

    Mike

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  15. 1. Brett Gardner -CF
    2. Derek Jeter- SS
    3. Mark Teixiera- 1B
    4. Alex Rodriguez- 3B
    5. Jorge Posada- C
    6. Xavier Nady- RF
    7. Hideki Matsui- DH
    8. Robinson Cano- 2B
    9. Johnny Damon- LF

    Johnnys getting old and cant hit as well as he use to, if we can get gardner to hit 265. or 270 he would be a great leadoff, stealing bases, and puttin down bunts.

    1. CC Sabathia
    2. AJ Burnett
    3. Joba Chamberlain
    4. Chien Ming Wang
    5. Andy Pettite
    * 6. Phil Hughes* backup starter

    With joba showing his potential to be roger clemens like OR BETTERRR i see him thriving in the starting rotation. how can u put a guy in the bullpen who has the potential to be a number one starter in the same caliber of roger clemens, it makes no sense. i understand the bridge to mo, but we have bruney, vares, edwar ramirez, marte, and young david robinson has shown some spark. i think the pens fine, the yankees have been missing their stellar starting pitching in the postseason and now they have it

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