The Teixeira Watch: Part IV

[Pedro Cerrano]

Well I'm officially off the "believe it when I see it" bandwagon and on the "this isn't happening" bandwagon.

So very very disappointing.

[Moose Milligan]

I'm so over this whole thing.

[Slappy]

Whatever happens, this Orioles offseason has been one of the most entertaining on record. Now only if we can say in February it was one of the post productive as well.

If we get Teix, we have a playoff caliber offense regardless of what else happens.

If we don't, we could still have a decent offense with an alternative signing (e.g. Dunn).

To me, the most important thing is improving the starting pitching because as it stands, it's absolutely atrocious.

[Mirko Crocop]

I found this quote from Olney funny:

Yes, I'd say that if Tex accepted our offer, we'd have to be seriously considered as part of this race. Superb analysis.

Olney is quite the word smith.:laughlol:

[winudi]

Here's my take on the Roch thing. We know he checks OH, so he saw the rumor from 7117 and called the warehouse to see what he could find out. He got a denial which is not surprising to anyone on here. He also said he trusts Olney over the insiders on OH. Again, not surprising as he worked with Olney at the end of Olney's Baltimore Sun tenure. Roch is a journalist and has to have confirmation to run with things. My guess is he is like the majority of us on here. He wants to believe but doesn't want his heart broken. He will believe when he sees

.

Additionally, Belkast last said we would be hearing something from the national media this morning. We heard we are out of it. Could Belkast been privy to this "smokescreen" we are hypothesizing?

I don't know what to think. I want this to happen but I am prepared to be crushed. I have a feeling I will cry either way.

[El Gordo]

I don't know how these things work, but could it be that the wow offer was made conditionally; say we would be willing to go 10/200 if no NTC and opt out, e.g. Boras says I'll get back to you goes to Boston and they up their offer to 8/175. Boras comes back to us and says it's a deal with an opt out and a NTC. We say no.

[canonfaz]

I'm out. Wake me up when its over.

[tvdoc]

It is a good point that if we were out of it, MacPhail would say so. So would Belkast for that matter.

Are you kidding? How would Belkast know? This Insider thing is nothing but BS.

[Lucky Jim]

Why the heck would the insiders get false information to give to OH?

Why get the fanbase's hopes up just to crush them? That would just get everybody angry and turn more people away from the Orioles.

If we are out of the Tex race, you would hear MacPhail say we were out.

I don't even know what you're asking here. I'm not even saying that any of this is deliberate by any party.

I'm saying information - when it's not first-hand - gets generated in a LOT of ways. None of them all that reliable. Games of "telephone", individual psyches, and assumptions all have an effect on how a rumor develops. If you want to debate that, feel free. It's an objective - not judgmental - point.

I do agree with rhrhett, that this is a message board and it's all in good fun. But I understand why the press would respond the way it has - they get called out for not breaking stories that they're suspicious about. It gets old. Ideally, they'd stay above the fray, but it's hard when you're blogging to do that.

[ferg28]

First post, long time reader just realized i had to register with a non-yahoo/gmail ish email address. This whole Tex ordeal is quite funny. Rumors/speculations, he said she said. In the end it would be great if we get Tex but isn't a bigger issue our starting pitching or lack there of. Yes if we get Tex we would score a few extra runs and have a killer lineup but in the end I'm more concerned with locking up B Rob and Markakis and getting a SP other than Redding and Pavano.

[Moose Milligan]

Get used to it people, it's as close as we'll ever get:

[Osfan13]

Sorry for sounding stupid, what is IIRC?

I've wondered that myself.

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. "

[robbykrieger]

This guy makes a pretty good argument that Olney's report is shady:

http://www.examiner.com/x-436-Baltimore-Orioles-Examiner~y2008m12d17-ESPN-now-reporting-Os-are-nearly-out-of-Teixeira-bidding

[OnTheBlack]

I'm out. Wake me up when its over.

Ditto. It is all just annoying at this point.

[wildbillhiccup]

Sorry if this is repeat (don't have time to read through all of the posts right now), but I wanted to share -

Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the Orioles are unlikely to sign Mark Teixeira after failing to improve their initial offer.

According to Olney, the Red Sox, Nationals and Angels have all made proposals to Teixeira that top the Orioles' offer. Boston has indicated that going beyond eight years for Teixeira is not an option, which could give the Angels or Nationals the upper hand.

If true, it's a bit dissapointing we didn't up the ante.