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Thursday, July 31, 2008
A strategic retreat on Teixeira
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We all know why the Braves traded Mark Teixeira (and just when I was finally gettin’ the hang of spelling his Portuguese name). Surrender. White flag.
They just give up. And it’s just the first of August. The Giants once were down 13 games on Aug. 12 and won the pennant, but they had Larry Jansen and Sal Maglie pitching, and Bobby Thomson to hit the “shot heard ‘round the world.”
Nobody ever heard, or wrote, of such wretched terms as “buyer” or “seller” in those times. You put your team together in the spring and you went to the post with it. It seems players were more durable in those days, or at least fearful, that if they gave in to an ache or pain for a day or two, they might lose their job.
Oh, the Braves were looking mint-fresh in the spring. Tom Glavine was back, was joining up with John Smoltz and Tim Hudson, with Mike Hampton in the wings. A staff a bit long in the tooth, but they knew how to win, as the saying goes. At this curve in the road, they have won 16 games between them, 11 of them Hudson’s. Smoltz is gone for the year. Glavine has learned what it’s like to “play” from the disabled list. Hampton’s second start of the season came Thursday night.
John Schuerholz’s last big move as general manager was the trade for Teixeira while the Braves still had an oar in the water last season. They still finished third, bearing out, to a point, what a columnist who follows the Angels just said, “He’s [Teixeira] no superstar.” I don’t know that Teixeira has ever been seriously elevated to that rarefied state. After five seasons in Texas and halves of two with the Braves, he has yet to play a postseason game. Yet, it is said that in order to keep him next season, the Angels are going to have to obligate themselves for $20 million. I’ve even heard that Frank Wren made him an “aggressive” offer, said to have been $18 million last spring.
Now, question of mine, why the Angels were willing to make the gamble of trading Casey Kotchman to get him. For the first time as an Angel, Kotchman is playing a full season in good health. His offensive numbers are just a bit lower than Teixeira’s. He was once Minor League Player of the Year. He’s every bit Teixeira’s equal on defense. He grew up in a baseball family. His father is an Angels scout and has managed some farm teams in their system.
More than that, the Angels have an 11 1/2-game lead in the American League West. Are they going for the kill? What more are they looking for?
From my friendly correspondent in Orange County, I get this explanation. “It’s the postseason,” he said. “They’re tired of losing in the first round. And they want the home-field advantage. They like Teixeira’s experience, and his power, and though down the road Kotchman may turn out to be just as good, they’re trading for now.”
Conclusion is that down the road the Braves will be just as prosperous with Kotchman at first base as they might have been with Teixeira, and at a lot more reasonable price. He isn’t due to hit the high salary scale until 2011, and the Braves can dwell happily with him until then. They hadn’t been making hay with Teixeira anyway, and if he really meant what he said — “I thought I’d be here for the rest of my career” — Frank Wren would have been happy to have accommodated him at his price. Frank’s, not Mark’s.
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