Winning in the Winter Means Squat

Among some of the bigger news around here the last few weeks is that the Yankees swept in and stole Mark Teixeira before he could sign with the Red Sox, giving the Yankees a decisive victory in offseason signings. The deal with the Yankees is for $160 million over 8 years, which averages out to a measly $22.5 million a year. At my current salary, I would have to work 255.6 years just to make what Teixeira will make in one year with the Yankees.

So congratulations to the Yankees for signing a career .290 hitter who has never even finished in the top 5 in the MVP voting in his career. In fact, he wasn't even in any of the top 5 offensive categories in all of baseball last year, including batting average (14), on base percentage (7), slugging (11), home runs (15), runs batted in (6) and OPS (9). Is Teixeira a good player? Yeah, he sure is and he may even be better in a Yankee uniform but I don't consider him to be elite.

I don't buy John Ghost-White Henry's claim that the Yankees' offer was too high for the Red Sox to match. One or two million a year over the course of the contract and Teixeira just as easily could have been introduced as a member of the Red Sox yesterday. I just don't think that the Red Sox wanted him that bad. Actually, let me rephrase that: I don't think the Red Sox need him that bad. We already have Kevin Youkilis at first base and an aging Mike Lowell at third base. Adding Teixeira would have meant that one of those players would be gone, most likely Lowell. While we still don't have anyone to replace Manny Ramirez's numbers, the Red Sox seemed to do just fine without him last year. I'm a bit concerned that we don't have a big name bat to help protect David Ortiz in the middle of the lineup but I think that Jason Bay will grow into that role next year.

One other note about Teixeira and my sudden loathing for him. It turns out that his wife, Leigh, is the one who made the decision to sign with the Yankees for him. Here are their direct quotes:

From Mark: "I'd been asking her for weeks and weeks, Where do you want to go? Where do you want me to play? And she said, `I want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy.' And finally, she said, `I want you to be a Yankee.' So that's when it was done. And once we got the contract figured out, it was a no-brainer."

And here's Leigh's take on it: "He was pushing me for an answer. I gave it. I always loved New York, and I thought it would be really special for him to be a Yankee."

Umm, just a thought, but shouldn't they have thought about where the best fit for Teixeira would be as a baseball player, not because his wife always loved New York? And that doesn't necessarily mean it would have been in Boston, either.

This signing does have the same feel as when the Yankees swooped in and traded for Rodriguez before the start of the 2004 season. Since that time the Yankees have won squat and the Red Sox have won two World Series Titles! So at least we can all look forward to Arod teaching Teixeira his disappearing act come next October.