TEIXEIRA REPORTEDLY ON THE MOVE TO ATLANTA

by Gary Adornato

Numerous national media reports have stated that the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves have tentatively agreed to a deal that would send Mark Teixeira, the pride of Mount St. Joseph and the MIAA, to the Braves and back to the Atlanta area where he was a college All-American for Georgia Tech.

Teixeira, 27, who is eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, has hit 153 home runs in five big league seasons and has been coveted property since his breakout 2005 campaign when he started in the all-star game and set career highs for home runs (43) and RBI’s (144). Teixeira is a also a two-time gold glove first-baseman.

This year, Teixeira missed 27 games in the first half of the season as he suffered with an injury to his left quadriceps. However, he has still managed to hit .297 with 13 home runs and 49 RBI’s.

The deal, which is pending the Rangers’ review of medical records of minor league pitcher Matt Harrison, sends Teixeira and left-handed reliever Ron Mahay to Atlanta in exchange for four young players, headlined by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Mark Teixeira

Texas selected Teixeira, who is represented by super agent Scott Boras, out of Georgia Tech in the first round of the 2001 amateur draft, but the slugger nearly returned to Tech for his junior year as contract negotiations stalled. At the last minute, a $9.5 million deal was reached. He reached the majors in 2003 and has been a star ever since.

The Rangers, however, knew it would be difficult to resign Teixeira before he entered free agency after next season and decided to cash in his value at this time. For his part, Teixeira had also expressed displeasure with the Rangers saying the club was a “big-market team playing like a small-market team” and that it was a “tough pill to swallow to be at the bottom of the league every year.”

Teixeira has also openly discussed his desire to one day play in Baltimore in front of his hometown fans. Many speculated that the Baltimore Orioles, a team in desperate need of power hitting, would enter the bidding for Teixeira and attempt to reach a contract extension. However, with the Orioles out of the pennant and wild card races, it would not have been wise for the club to mortgage its young pitching talent for a player they could lose after next season. Expect the Orioles to be a player in the Teixeira sweepstakes should he ever reach free agency, but with Boras handling the negotiations, Baltimore would have to make an uncharacteristic offer and hope for a bit of a hometown discount from Teixeira to bring the local star home.