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Boston reaction to Yankees signing Mark Teixeira is swift and fierce

BY JESSE SPECTOR
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, December 24th 2008, 2:03 PM

It won't be a very merry Christmas for Red Sox Nation, which a week a go seemed to be on the verge of celebrating Mark Teixeira's arrival in Boston, but now must deal with the slugging first baseman in pinstripes for the next eight years.

The reaction up north was swift and fierce, starting with Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, who summed it up as "a kick in the pants."

"Whether or not you wanted to see Teixeira in a Red Sox uniform next year, you're missing the point. The Red Sox wanted him and they wanted him badly," Massarotti wrote. He took issue with the stance of Red Sox ownership losing its high-stakes poker game with Scott Boras over "$1 million-$2 million a year, roughly 1 percent of their 2008 payroll."

"It simply makes no sense to stop bidding based on principle," he wrote, "particularly after dropping $51.11 million for the rights to Daisuke Matsuzaka and another $70 million for J.D. Drew."

Massarotti's Globe colleague, Nick Cafardo, wrote that "(the Angels and Nationals) were losers in this one, but not more so than the Sox, who got the old double whammy - losing the player they wanted to the Yankees." Cafardo talked to a general manager who "suggested ... that Derek Lowe has now become a key player," so maybe the Red Sox will take out their Teixeira frustrations on New York's other team - though the Globe reported on its "Extra Bases" blog Wednesday morning that Lowe is closing in on a deal with the Mets.

The Globe-produced fan site Boston Dirt Dogs took its usual stance - after fawning over Teixeira a week ago, their "Yankee Flipper" story featured several snappy one-liners, including "Bronx Bumblers Overpay for Overrated First Baseman, DH-Type." This from a site that a week ago asked, "Is There a Portuguese Prince on the Horizon in Boston?" and reminded the loyal legions "It's Pronounced Tei-SHAIR-ah ... But Boston Will End Up Calling Him Tex." They'll probably be calling him something else now.

Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald cautioned that the Red Sox must deal not only with the Yankees but also those American League champions from Tampa Bay. For any post-deal spinmeisters, he added, "Losing out on Teixeira leaves the Red Sox without an upgrade in the middle of their batting order. The Sox had projected Teixeira as the kind of run-producer who could replace Manny Ramirez in the lineup, without replicating Ramirez's penchant for off-field drama and distraction."

Last but not least, Curt Schilling was very reasonable writing on his blog, urging Boston fans to "Please stop with the greedy bum statements too, all of you screaming that would be saying nothing if the Sox had ante'd up. I'm surprised but I don't think nearly as much as most others. Why? Because not once, never, did you hear ANYTHING from Mark in this entire charade. This is how Scott Boras works, and his clients love him for it. Mark never said he wanted Boston, sources 'close to negotiations' did. That and a handful of nickels will get you a quarter."

Schilling also offered a succinct analysis of the Yankees' end of the move, writing, "I think the Steinbrenners, coming off a miserable last season in Yankee Stadium, are dead set on opening the new stadium with a World Series and they don't care how much it costs. Good for them. You can bitch all you want about the Yankees and greed but they spend money in a sincere effort to win it all, every year. What fan wouldn't want their teams to do that."

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soxmuscle

The Red Sox didn't put all their eggs in the Teixeira basket.

Wait and let the offseason unfold before crowning the Yankees as Champions.

Age: 20 | Height: 5'7" | Weight: 150 lbs | Penis: 12 inches

min0 lee

I know better than that.

All of their eggs in a basket?? Your kidding me right, you do know they are loaded with money.

min0 lee

Not the First Time Teixeira Turned Down Boston - Bats Blog - NYTimes.com

As Ben Shpigel reported in today’s Times, Mark Teixeira, the Yankees’ talented new first baseman, is a polite, humble and private individual. He works hard at his game and has the numbers to show for it, but he is not likely to open up about his life as a ball player.

So it may be difficult to find out if Teixeira’s past interactions with the Boston Red Sox had anything to do with him not choosing to sign a deal with the team. But based on what he has said over the years, we do know that Teixeira, then a highly touted prospect, was not happy with Boston’s approach as he embarked on his professional baseball career in 1998.

After high school, Teixeira was offered a $1.5 million bonus from the Red Sox as they considered targeting him in the first round of draft. Teixeira passed and what followed left a bitter taste in the first baseman’s mouth.

From Shpigel’s article in today’s Times: “I have a very cynical approach towards the draft,” Teixeira told Baseball America in 2006. “I was naïve. It was my first realization to the business in baseball. The Red Sox told everybody that I wouldn’t sign, and when it got to a late enough round, they said, ‘Let’s take a flier on him.’ So they spoiled me for everyone else.”

After being drafted by the Red Sox in the ninth round, Teixeira chose to attend Georgia Tech and went on to be drafted by the Texas Rangers as the fifth overall pick in the 2001 draft.

As the Red Sox courted Teixeira during this year’s winter meetings, the Times’s Alan Schwarz wrote an entry on this blog that took a more detailed look at Teixeira’s early experience with the Red Sox.

“It’s unfair and illegal to go to a kid and say, ‘We haven’t drafted you yet, we may or may not draft you, but if you don’t take 1.5 we’re not going to draft you,’ Teixeira told Schwarz several years ago. “What would you say? There’s 29 other teams out there — why would I ever cap myself before the draft even happens?”

Teixeira is likely to be asked about all of this when he meets the New York media in the coming weeks. Whether or not he talks about it is another story

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- MASNsports.com

soxfan34

Big deal, they're loaded with money. They may be the best team on paper, but paper doesnt win championships. The red sox and other teams have proved that for the past 7 years.

min0 lee

True, but a small market team can say the same about Boston.
It's not like they didn't try.

It's just a game.

IronAddict

They're absolutely loaded with talent! Let's just hope for the rest of the league, they don't put it all together and play like a finely tuned Italian sports car...

The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

largepkg

Barring injuries by CC and Burnett I just don't see how this team can lose.

Last year they were missing starting pitching and now that hole is closed. They just added a great hitter to an already ridiculous line up.

While I agree paper doesn't mean much they look stupid good on it right now.

I see 105 wins and a coast through to the series.

soxmuscle

^ their line-up was below average last year.

People see all these overpriced, popular names and think that they've already won the World Series.

Well first of all, the Yankees offense is solid, but not great. Defensively speaking, we're talking about the worst defensive unit ever assembled if infact Damon or Swisher is in center (no Cameron), Jeter at short and Posada at catcher.

AJ Burnett has made over 30 starts in a season twice, both during contract years. He'll almost certainly see time on the DL and I think there's a good chance they locked themselves into another Carl Pavano esque contract with this signing.

Depending on how the rest of this offseason plays out, there's a good chance when the prediction thread comes around I'll be picking the Yankees as the third place team.

Sadly, the Orioles may be the best 100 loss team in the history of Major League Baseball.

Age: 20 | Height: 5'7" | Weight: 150 lbs | Penis: 12 inches

min0 lee

Yeah, we see this year in year out here...I remember when they had WInfield, Mattingly....and we still didn't win anything. It was when we started to use our homegrown talent mixed in with the veterans that they started to win.
True, Hideki is worse than I thought out there, Damon still throws like a girl, Posada's was never really a Pitchers catcher and he's old...



Knowing his history and how often a Yankee free agent goes bad I am sure he will be on the DL sometime next year.

min0 lee

To me this really isn't about if they will win, there are no gaurentees (sic) in sports, who would have thought Detroit would do so bad and Boston not win it....I mean sheesh the Rays won it...who would have guessed this, definitely not their fake fans.

This was a good long term signing, the guy can hit, field and he's a good guy plus he's pretty young.

It also was a moral victory for the Yanks, last year Boston beat them in December which the Yanks usually do hopefully this translates to a few October wins.


Let's face it, if the Yankees fall flat on their face the whole anti-Yankee crowd would love it. I sort like this Evil Empire tag.

By the way this move sort screwed up Posada, he was supposed to ease his way into first base.

soxfan34

I dont see how all their over-priced egos playing well together

min0 lee

SoxFan34 where have you been for the years of 1973–2008?
It's their MO.


Are you just bitter that he didn't want to sign with them in the first place?

soxfan34

Am I bitter? No, not in any way shape or form. All those high priced egos. As long as A-ROD is there, the yanks wont win anything

deathbypoops

yanks arent a baseball team. they're more along the lines of a business. However, this is coming from a bitter Met fan.

"you thought it was over, its not over, I came back, I brought my axe!!!!
Journal

min0 lee

Good, I like to hear people speak when their not bitter.

You do know A-Rod wanted to play for Boston instead of the Yankees.
Hopefully Tex can take some of the pressure off him and help him relax and hit...

Don't you have a first baseman in Youk already? The Yanks really didn't have one, at least not as good as him.

min0 lee

Hmm...they also spend a lot of money.

min0 lee

New York Yankees $ 209,081,577
New York Mets $ 137,793,376
Detroit Tigers $ 137,685,196
Boston Red Sox $ 133,390,035
Chicago White Sox $ 121,189,332
Los Angeles Angels $ 119,216,333
Los Angeles Dodgers $ 118,588,536
Chicago Cubs $ 118,345,833
Seattle Mariners $ 117,666,482
Atlanta Braves $ 102,365,683

soxfan34

Yes, i know he wanted to play for the red sox!!! Im glad he signed with the yanks. Ive never liked him. Because they almost got him, nomar acted like a little bit*h and we got rid of him (now we have a rotating SS), but whatever. Im sure in the yanks had a decent 1st baseman, they would of went after him anyways, isnt swisher a 1st baseman?

min0 lee

“He just didn’t want to go to Boston,” the official said. “He didn’t want to be a Red Sox so Boras called the Yankees and said he really wants to be a Yankee."

I can just hear the Boos now for Tex, I wonder if they will be louder than the Arod boos.

min0 lee

Yes Swisher is, but if your the GM of the Yankees and you had a chance to get Tex what would you do?

soxfan34

I hope Manny goes to the yanks. I want to see him get booed..he's a dog. He will rip through that locker room and make Joe go crazy.

min0 lee

I don't think that's going to happen, they don't need him and don't want him....not many people do and that has him depressed, so much that he wants to retire.

soxmuscle

soxfan34,

you are an idiot.

Age: 20 | Height: 5'7" | Weight: 150 lbs | Penis: 12 inches

soxfan34

I am, why is that?

deathbypoops

wow. hey. let me pay 137+ mil for the Mets to choke while Joe Schmoe is making $10 an hour working hard trying to make ends meet...makes me sick.

"you thought it was over, its not over, I came back, I brought my axe!!!!
Journal

I Are Baboon

Generally speaking, Sox fans are disappointed not to get Teixeira, but certainly not angry or upset about it. Most of us realize he is not worth $22 million a season.

The Sox can still win this division. The Yankees HAVE to win the World Series every year now or it will be seen as a huge disappointment.

soxfan34

Of course they can win the division, even with all the yanks high priced stars