This weekend one of my mother's friends asked me why the local media was giving the Mets such a hard time. I agreed that with a winning record and a first-place standing the Mets had nothing to be ashamed of but I also pointed out that they were suffering slings and arrows because they hadn't lived up to expectations. The Braves and Phillies are closer than they should be, I explained, and that makes people nervous about how things are going to end up for the Amazins.
And that was before the Braves picked up Mark Teixeira in a trade this afternoon. They gave up a ton for the Rangers first baseman but the switch-hitter gives them a lineup that can compete with anything the Mets throw out there and puts them in a position to make a serious run for October. Teixeira, Brian McCann, Edgar Renteria and Chipper Jones is a good nucleus and if Andruw Jones can put together a reasonable second half this team will score a lot of runs. I'd expect Omar Minaya to counter this deal but with Jermaine Dye looking like a future Red Sox outfielder it's hard to see where he might turn.
As for the Rangers their haul was as good as they could have hoped for. Switch-hitting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, blocked by McCann in Atlanta, has a very high ceiling and should flash some serious power in the Rangers park. They also got two prospects, Single-A shortstop Elvis Andrus and Double-A southpaw Matt Harrison, who were considered jewels of the Atlanta system. All three project as above-average major leaguers and the fourth player is raw 19-year old pitcher Neftali Feliz. The Rangers also sent lefty reliever Ron Mahay to Atlanta where the veteran should be a nice fit in the pen.
Texas GM Jon Daniels deserves a pat on the back. Teixeira is a free agent after next season and everyone in baseball knew that the Scott Boras-client would be on the open market. Yet Daniels was able to command a king's ransom in return because he realized the leverage he had in a market devoid of game-changing players. Unless someone is lying about who is available there won't be a bigger name moved than Teixeira. Texas might not have gotten much immediate help but if Daniels can now parlay Gerald Laird, Eric Gagne and/or others into more youth he will have radically shifted the face of a franchise that was going nowhere fast.
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