Looks like the Red Sox will be in play for Teixeira

[scOtt]

I think there has to be some convincing done... MacPhail needs to convince Angelos to allow him to do the job he was hired to do and if that means passing on Tex at the price it would cost to sign him, so be it. Or Angelos needs to convince MacPhail that Tex is worth whatever it takes and that it's a good use of finite payroll resources. I can't see Angelos telling MacPhail to do something he doesn't think is a good idea...

If he did, then the question would be does MacPhail stick around. He either has complete control of baseball operations or he doesn't. Ownership dictating which players to acquire is not complete control of baseball operations by any definition.

I don't think there is any owner that gives complete control. Angelos or any other. The good owners just have to give enough control (trust) to the GM to build a good team. If the owner gets a woody over some player, he has to still be detached enough to listen to the voice of reason. Else you have TB their first 10 years (I forget that insane owner's name...)

[davearm]

I agree, I just meant that AM has Peter's ear and confidence. Judging by Davearm's remembrances of AM in Chicago, he is conservative on the BIG contracts, to say the least. I just think that if AM is dead set against making the move, then Big Pete can be talked out of it (talked down off the ledge...) I also think Big Pete is a smart enough businessman to listen to reason rather than his heart.

Or if he isn't... we get Tex for 8+ years. It's win-win for us fans.

I think I've correctly painted MacPhail as a guy that was conservative and reluctant when it came to paying top dollar to ink the upper-tier *non-Cub* free agents. My recollection is that the 4/$27M deal given to 34-YO Moises Alou is the biggest of this type.

It bears mentioning, though, that MacPhail did shell out the big bucks for the Cubs' own face-of-the-franchise guys, most notably Sosa, Wood, DLee, and Ramirez.

Now one could argue that Tex should be viewed as a guy in the latter group, even despite the fact that he's never actually played for the O's. I think that reasoning is pretty flimsy, personally, but it's something to consider.

[Moose Milligan]

Actually that is my point. Tex helps sell tickets for us. NY and Boston don't need him to sell tickets. We do because we need fans back in the seats however we can get them. Now obviously that's not the main reason you sign Tex, but it's an excellent side effect. Just one of the many that his signing would cause that wouldn't benefit NY or Boston. He's just another hired gun to them, but to the Oriole fans he's the hometown hero.

To some terms from politics, he excites and rallies the fanbase. And we sure could use some excitement coming off this dreadful 11th year of losing.

So what's your point? That NY and Boston have already outsold us for next year? No, you're absolutely right, they don't need Tex to put people in the seats, they need Tex to help them win games...in Bostons case, get them back to the World Series and in NY's case, get them back to the playoffs.

Other than the diehards that inhabit this board and other O's related message boards, Frobby is right...Tex's "Hometown Hero" status is greatly exaggerated, he hasn't had anything to do with this area since his high school days. What'd you do, go to high school with him? Hang with him on the weekends?

That's like saying I would have all of a sudden become a diehard Bullets fan back in the day if they traded for Grant Hill because he grew up 15 minutes from me, I watched him in high school and see his dad every so often at the Safeway.

[JTrea81]

So what's your point? That NY and Boston have already outsold us for next year? No, you're absolutely right, they don't need Tex to put people in the seats, they need Tex to help them win games...in Bostons case, get them back to the World Series and in NY's case, get them back to the playoffs.

Other than the diehards that inhabit this board and other O's related message boards, Frobby is right...Tex's "Hometown Hero" status is greatly exaggerated, he hasn't had anything to do with this area since his high school days. What'd you do, go to high school with him? Hang with him on the weekends?

That's like saying I would have all of a sudden become a diehard Bullets fan back in the day if they traded for Grant Hill because he grew up 15 minutes from me, I watched him in high school and see his dad every so often at the Safeway.

I think you and many others on this board vastly underestimate the effect Tex would have on ticket sales.

I think if you polled any O's fan and asked them if they'd buy a $40 ticket to a game to see Mark Teixeira play in an Orioles uniform they'd say yes. I doubt you'd get that reaction for Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell.

Teixeira is a hometown star player, and hometown star players sell tickets. We need Tex to sell tickets and win games, thus since we need him for two important aspects to this franchise recovery effort, he is much more vital for the Orioles to acquire than another team, who could just plug in Dunn or Burrell and get a somewhat similar result. He's a luxury for those teams and a necessity for ours, given the state of our franchise and fanbase.

[Moose Milligan]

I think you and many others on this board vastly underestimate the effect Tex would have on ticket sales.

I think if you polled any O's fan and asked them if they'd buy a $40 ticket to a game to see Mark Teixeira play in an Orioles uniform they'd say yes. I doubt you'd get that reaction for Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell.

Teixeira is a hometown star player, and hometown star players sell tickets. We need Tex to sell tickets and win games, thus since we need him for two important aspects to this franchise recovery effort, he is much more vital for the Orioles to acquire than another team, who could just plug in Dunn or Burrell and get a somewhat similar result. He's a luxury for those teams and a necessity for ours, given the state of our franchise and fanbase.

I think if you polled any O's fan, they'd want to see a winner. If that team has Mark Teixeira, Pat Burrell or Bake McBride, it won't matter. A star player on a crap team is exactly that.

I don't think anyones gonna pay 40 bucks to see Mark Teixeira's 4 at bats while the O's get blown out cause the pitching is still awful. You might get a slight bump in ticket sales for 09, but I don't think anyones coming out in droves for Tex cause he grew up in the area.

[JTrea81]

I think if you polled any O's fan, they'd want to see a winner. If that team has Mark Teixeira, Pat Burrell or Bake McBride, it won't matter. A star player on a crap team is exactly that.

I don't think anyones gonna pay 40 bucks to see Mark Teixeira's 4 at bats while the O's get blown out cause the pitching is still awful. You might get a slight bump in ticket sales for 09, but I don't think anyones coming out in droves for Tex cause he grew up in the area.

It's not just Tex obviously, it's building around him. Tex, Burnett, and a SS like Donald, Arias or Greene and the fans would be excited again. Tex would generate the most interest, but it's also because he represents a committment to winning. If the Orioles sign him, it means they want to win. The Orioles aren't going to spend 140-200 million on Tex to not surround him with a winning team.

And that's what fans want to see.

Teixeira, Wieters, Markakis, Jones, Roberts and Huff is not a crap team. Our bullpen is not a crap bullpen. We can be an exciting team next year with league average SP, which I think we can get from what we have and adding Burnett to the fold and maybe a Mussina/Byrd/Wolf.

Signing Tex and the corresponding moves would sure excite the heck out of me, and I'd fly down to see a game from Maine.

The bottom line is signing Tex means the Orioles want to win. And it's been awhile since they've made a statement like that. I think if the Orioles want to win, the fans will want to watch them try to win.

[Dipper9]

I think if you polled any O's fan, they'd want to see a winner. If that team has Mark Teixeira, Pat Burrell or Bake McBride, it won't matter. A star player on a crap team is exactly that.

I don't think anyones gonna pay 40 bucks to see Mark Teixeira's 4 at bats while the O's get blown out cause the pitching is still awful. You might get a slight bump in ticket sales for 09, but I don't think anyones coming out in droves for Tex cause he grew up in the area.

Rep for the Bake McBride reference! Classic!

I respectfully disagree with your final sentence. First, people WILL come out to see Tex, at first out of curiosity and excitement, and later, say 2010 and beyond, because he WILL be playing on a winning team. Myself and others, specifically SG, keep telling you guys signing Tex is NOT about 2009. Its about his 6-8 year contract and how he will anchor the first base and cleanup roles for our winning teams with Matusz, Arrietta, and Tillman leading our pitching.

[clarence]

I think if you polled any O's fan, they'd want to see a winner. If that team has Mark Teixeira, Pat Burrell or Bake McBride, it won't matter. A star player on a crap team is exactly that.

I don't think anyones gonna pay 40 bucks to see Mark Teixeira's 4 at bats while the O's get blown out cause the pitching is still awful. You might get a slight bump in ticket sales for 09, but I don't think anyones coming out in droves for Tex cause he grew up in the area.

People need to forget about 2009. Short of Christ coming down and pitching every night to a 2.00 E.R.A., we aren't competing. Signing Tex, and anyone else we sign for that matter, should be about 2010 and beyond. Signing a bunch of has-beens or never-will-be's to anything more than one-year contracts to help us get through next season is where a big mistake could be made.

[utvolzac]

It's not just Tex obviously, it's building around him. Tex, Burnett, and a SS like Donald, Arias or Greene and the fans would be excited again. Tex would generate the most interest, but it's also because he represents a committment to winning. If the Orioles sign him, it means they want to win. The Orioles aren't going to spend 140-200 million on Tex to not surround him with a winning team.

And that's what fans want to see.

Teixeira, Wieters, Markakis, Jones, Roberts and Huff is not a crap team. Our bullpen is not a crap bullpen. We can be an exciting team next year with league average SP, which I think we can get from what we have and adding Burnett to the fold and maybe a Mussina/Byrd/Wolf.

Signing Tex and the corresponding moves would sure excite the heck out of me, and I'd fly down to see a game from Maine.

The bottom line is signing Tex means the Orioles want to win. And it's been awhile since they've made a statement like that. I think if the Orioles want to win, the fans will want to watch them try to win.

Just out of curiousity, are we going to have to put you on suicide watch if and when Teix doesn't sign with the Orioles.

Count me in as one of the O's fans who would love to see Teix in an O's jersey next year. If it's within reason. If we have to write a blank check, then I'd pass.

Teix is a upper level player, but he's hardly the savior of the franchise or the cult hero that your making him out to be.

It won't be the end of the world if he signs elsewhere, and I still think we can build a winner with or without Teix.

[geschinger]

Rep for the Bake McBride reference! Classic!

I respectfully disagree with your final sentence. First, people WILL come out to see Tex, at first out of curiosity and excitement, and later, say 2010 and beyond, because he WILL be playing on a winning team. Myself and others, specifically SG, keep telling you guys signing Tex is NOT about 2009. Its about his 6-8 year contract and how he will anchor the first base and cleanup roles for our winning teams with Matusz, Arrietta, and Tillman leading our pitching.

2009 should only being focused on relative to a Tex induced bump in tix as it is really the only year you'll see a Tex (or any other big name FA signing) bump. After the novelty wears off it becomes whether or not the team wins. If MacPhail's best chance of building a winner includes Tex and the resources he eats up then signing Tex helps ticket sales as winnin helps ticket sales. If MacPhail's best chance of building a winner includes allocating the finite payroll resources differently the result is that signing Tex in thelong run could hurt ticket sales. Build a winner and they will come and it doesn't make much difference where one of the players happened to have been born.

[Moose Milligan]

Rep for the Bake McBride reference! Classic!

I respectfully disagree with your final sentence. First, people WILL come out to see Tex, at first out of curiosity and excitement, and later, say 2010 and beyond, because he WILL be playing on a winning team. Myself and others, specifically SG, keep telling you guys signing Tex is NOT about 2009. Its about his 6-8 year contract and how he will anchor the first base and cleanup roles for our winning teams with Matusz, Arrietta, and Tillman leading our pitching.

People need to forget about 2009. Short of Christ coming down and pitching every night to a 2.00 E.R.A., we aren't competing. Signing Tex, and anyone else we sign for that matter, should be about 2010 and beyond. Signing a bunch of has-beens or never-will-be's to anything more than one-year contracts to help us get through next season is where a big mistake could be made.

I hear that, but we've thought that we've had good young pitching before and look where we've wound up.

I realize Matusz, Arrietta and Tillman are different and held in a higher regard than youngsters of prior years, but I'm not banking on them to pan out and having a winner by '10.

I'd rather get a Tex like player after we have a better idea of how our young pitchers turn out rather than getting Tejada'd again.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have Tex, I really would. I just don't think we'd be having half these conversations if Tex didn't grow up somewhere in MD. And like I've said, unless you went to high school with him or hung out with him when he was a kid, Tex probably doesn't mean all that much to you.

What matters is if he help turns us into a winner. That won't happen in 09 and it's too early to tell if it'll happen in 10, either.

Was there this much of a squawk when the O's got Harold Baines because he grew up in St. Michaels? I know there's a difference there, but still.

[JTrea81]

I hear that, but we've thought that we've had good young pitching before and look where we've wound up.

I realize Matusz, Arrietta and Tillman are different and held in a higher regard than youngsters of prior years, but I'm not banking on them to pan out and having a winner by '10.

I'd rather get a Tex like player after we have a better idea of how our young pitchers turn out rather than getting Tejada'd again.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have Tex, I really would. I just don't think we'd be having half these conversations if Tex didn't grow up somewhere in MD. And like I've said, unless you went to high school with him or hung out with him when he was a kid, Tex probably doesn't mean all that much to you.

What matters is if he help turns us into a winner. That won't happen in 09 and it's too early to tell if it'll happen in 10, either.

Was there this much of a squawk when the O's got Harold Baines because he grew up in St. Michaels? I know there's a difference there, but still.

Baines wasn't on the same level as Teixeira, because one, he didn't have all the top teams chasing after him and two, he didn't play defense. Tex is the total package. I don't think it's just that he's from the area, it's that the guy actually wants to play here and has spoken out about it several times. A top FA actually wants to play for the Orioles. The last time you heard that was back in 1997...

[Moose Milligan]

Baines wasn't on the same level as Teixeira, because one, he didn't have all the top teams chasing after him and two, he didn't play defense. Tex is the total package. I don't think it's just that he's from the area, it's that the guy actually wants to play here and has spoken out about it several times. A top FA actually wants to play for the Orioles. The last time you heard that was back in 1997...

Well it certainly sounds like a layup.

[ChaosLex]

I have a solution. Give Tex $300 million. Give CC $300 million. Give Furcal $300 million. Give ManRam $300 million. Give Burnett $300 million.

We'd have an All-Star team and we wouldn't have to worry about anyone else outbiding us.

[clarence]

I have a solution. Give Tex $300 million. Give CC $300 million. Give Furcal $300 million. Give ManRam $300 million. Give Burnett $300 million.

We'd have an All-Star team and we wouldn't have to worry about anyone else outbiding us.

That's just ridiculous. We could easily get all of those guys for only $200M each. I just saved the Orioles $500M.