Things aren't going well for the Texas Rangers this season. That's nothing new, things haven't gone well for them for most of the decade, but at 26-43 the seat underneath general manager Jon Daniels is getting a little toasty. He's gotten the dreaded vote of confidence from ownership in the form of a one-year extension and his moves have mostly drawn ridicule around the league. He gave up a lot for Carlos Lee and then watched him walk away as a free agent and then spent good coin on Vicente Padilla and Frank Catalanotto only to watch each one flop this season. The only solution to the problems in Texas is to blow the whole thing up which leads us to Mark Teixeira.
The first baseman is the most marketable asset in Daniels' portfolio and he'll surely have suitors calling for his hand. One of them could be the Yankees. The Bombers could use a long-term answer at first and Teixeira's bat would look mighty good nestled between A-Rod and Jorge Posada in the middle of the lineup. The problem is going to be the price. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports suggests that the Yankees should be willing to include Philip Hughes in a package for Teixeira and one of Texas' veteran relievers (Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka, you'd think). That's not a smart move for the Yankees. As much as Teixeira would help in the second half he's going to be a free agent after the 2008 season. His agent is Scott Boras and that makes him a bad bet to sign a deal before hitting the open market. Hughes, on the other hand, is a key part of the Yankee rotation hopes for the better part of a decade. Using him on a rental wouldn't be worth a 27th championship.
Which isn't to say that they shouldn't pursue him if the price doesn't include Hughes. Rosenthal suggests Melky Cabrera, Chase Wright/Joba Chamberlain and another prospect as a package that Texas should seriously consider. Chamberlain is a fast-moving prospect with a lot of upside, so he makes sense but the other names underscore the difficult position that Daniels finds himself in. He has to trade Teixeira before he walks away as a free agent but accepting guys like Cabrera and Wright won't do anything to make Texas better in the long term. The secret is long since out on Boras' strategy regarding free agents so it's not like he can go to the Dodgers, Orioles or other teams in on the bidding and extract a king's ransom. It's an unenviable spot to be in because of his past failures and the middling future in Texas but Daniels needs to make a Hughes-sized splash in any trade. The hope here is that the Yankees aren't the team that gives it to him.
I will be livid if they trade Hughes for Teixeira, especially if Helton ends up available at an Abreu-esque discount price in a month.
Posted by: GTB | June 19, 2007 at 04:29 PM