The Teixeira Watch: Part V - AM says the O's "have flexibility" on Tex

[OsandRavens787]

MASN is sure to get a bump in viewership as well, which means they can charge more to air ads, which means more $$ for Angelos.... all in all, we can't lose with a deal for Teixeira, unless the price gets REALLY exorbitant.

[Trinidad]

As an aside, Furcal just signed with the Dodgers after Olney reported a few days ago that Furcal to the Braves was a done deal.

He then backtracked with that ridiculous Furcal Dating game article. I can't wait till he has to do the same on the O's being out of the Tex sweepstakes. C'mon Pete, get your man!!!!

[Trinidad]

I have been gone for awhile...since page 10, anything I missed?

Yes. 14 pages:D

[BillySmith]

Lol, well after reading his comments, I honestly couldn't tell if he was talking down to "us" O's fans- or empathizing... He kind of switched tones mid sentence...

That's Southernbird, I guess. As you might well know, he's been around for a long time. Used to be a moderator. He rarely posts anymore.

[jcroemer]

Someone mentioned earlier about all of the endorsement money Tex would get here, well that's also true if he went to L.A. or Boston, but WE have Gebco commercials :scratchchinhmm:

Right, but he has to compete with other superstars on his own team to get those endorsement dollars. IT may be a bigger market overall but the pie has to be cut into more slices. Especially in LA where you have baseball stars galore as well as Kobe Bryant etc. Then NY, where you have Eli Manning and Co.

[isestrex]

I have been gone for awhile...since page 10, anything I missed?

No... nothing's happened pretty much all day except that the "Media" has gone from thinking the O's are in front of a 5 horse race to being packed up for glue in less than 24 hours.

[geschinger]

MASN is sure to get a bump in viewership as well, which means they can charge more to air ads, which means more $$ for Angelos.... all in all, we can't lose with a deal for Teixeira, unless the price gets REALLY exorbitant.

MASN's money is in forced subscriptions... Any advertising bump is peanuts in comparison. You'd be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-10m in increased ad revenue if the O's had a 90 win team.

[jcroemer]

Not to get back into this too much, but I've been thinking more about the Markakis extension situation in relation to Tex. It really bums me out that suddenly it appears that if we don't sign Tex, all the progress we've made over the last year or so is out the window because Markakis may not extend without Tex. The thing is, prior to the winter meetings, it seemed like Tex wasn't really realistic and we were all ok with an offseason in which we traded Ramon, obtained a shortstop, signed some pitching (possibly from the Japan market), and continued with the MacPhail Way. Coupled with last year's rebuilding moves, that's a good offseason.

But now, everything hinges, rather suddenly, on Teixeira. Markakis may not sign, Roberts would probably get traded, free agents aren't attracted, etc. But really, prior to the rollercoaster of the last week or so, I thought we were really on a good path, with or without Tex. It's only when you start to think that, hey, we really have a chance at this guy, so many good things would come of signing him, what happens if we don't sign him, that things start to seem bleak.

I'm not completely sure what my point is, but I guess I'm feeling like I want to tell Nick Markakis... wait a minute, dude, this organization is doing alright. You're the guy right now along with two other great young players. Tex isn't the end-all, be-all - it's only now that we're in the mix for him that you're thinking signing him is the only way the O's can show they're serious about winning. I disagree with that.

I guess I just think that now that we know for sure that we have a good shot at signing Tex, we're suddenly bleak about life without Tex, when previously, a lot of us were feeling positive about our situation as is.

Make any sense? Thoughts?

B-Rob wants out if we don't get Tex.

I bet Nick just wants to see Baltimore make a SERIOUS effort. If we give our best I think Nick will recognize the commitment. B-rob is aging, wants to win now.

[OnTheBlack]

Right, but he has to compete with other superstars on his own team to get those endorsement dollars. IT may be a bigger market overall but the pie has to be cut into more slices. Especially in LA where you have baseball stars galore as well as Kobe Bryant etc. Then NY, where you have Eli Manning and Co.

Boston is potentially the worst of them all. Brady, The Big Three (Garnett, Pierce, Allen), Ortiz, to name a few.... Tex won't even be the biggest draw on his own team, let alone in the city of Boston.

[Dixonterp10]

As an aside, Furcal just signed with the Dodgers after Olney reported a few days ago that Furcal to the Braves was a done deal.

He then backtracked with that ridiculous Furcal Dating game article. I can't wait till he has to do the same on the O's being out of the Tex sweepstakes. C'mon Pete, get your man!!!!

That would be so sweet!

[jcroemer]

MASN's money is in forced subscriptions... Any advertising bump is peanuts in comparison. You'd be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-10m in increased ad revenue if the O's had a 90 win team.

Yes and revenue increases dramatically with each win over 90.

[OrioleBird79]

With all of this talk of the O's all of a sudden being out, I came up with a far fetched conspiracy theory.

I was thinking that maybe Boras put this information into the media to squeeze more money out of the O's. Maybe he realizes Tex really wants to play for the O's, but Baltimore isn't putting up enough money. So maybe if he makes the Orioles think they are out that the O's will ante up. This benefits both Tex and Boras.

Let me know if you guys think this is feasible.

I think we have no idea what the two sides are up to. Here are the scenarios I have in mind:

1.) The Orioles have the top offer on the table and the Red Sox offer is being leaked to cause the Orioles to increase their offer. Makes sense with all of the talk today about the Orioles being out of it. "Teixeira wants to be an Oriole".

2.) The Boras camp is leaking that the Orioles are out of the running to get the Red Sox to up their offer. This would mean that the Nationals and Angels are not willing to increase their offers. If the Orioles refuse to increase their offer then Teixeira can not get the an increase from the Red Sox. "Teixeira wants to join the Red Sox".

3.) All of the offers are within $15 Million of one another, Teixeira wants a few teams to drop out of the running to ease his decision. "Teixeira wants to play for the team that pays him the most money".

4.) The Orioles have not offered a contract consistant with the Red Sox and other teams. He wants to play for Baltimore, but he wants to get paid fairly. "Teixiera wants to be an Oriole".

5.) The Boras camp is trying to get the Yankees involved because he would rather play for the Yankees rather than the Red Sox. "Teixiera wants to be a Yankee"

As this process continues to stall I would think a team like the Yankees could decide to swoop in and sign him as their last peice of the puzzle. Signing quickly could have favored the Orioles or Nationals, but Boras likes to drag out negotiations to get every possible team involved at top dollar.

Reports that the Orioles may be the favorites leaked yesterday which is likely to be poor news for the Orioles instead of good news. Hearing that the Orioles are out of the process has me thinking that Mark wants to be hear and Boras is trying to get the best offer.

I have been hearing about a 8/192-200 offer from Boston. I think Boston is the favorites, but Teixeira would prefer to sign with us if all things are equal. The argument to this philosophy is that if playing for the Orioles was a priority then he would have signed by now. Unless of course the reports are true and we are offering less than the other 3 teams in on Mark. You would think that AM knows what would be required in terms of dollars to sign Mark. Just because AM knows the number it does not mean they should make an offer that is substantialy more than the Red Sox.

IMO... Make Teixeira an offer that equals the top offer of another team and If he wants to play here he will. Otherwise he walks and the fans feel good that we made a solid offer.

[isestrex]

Can't believe we're talking about 90 wins... :rolleyestf:

Let's try and get back to 80 again

[Al Pardo]

MASN's money is in forced subscriptions... Any advertising bump is peanuts in comparison. You'd be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-10m in increased ad revenue if the O's had a 90 win team.

That's true it does come from subscriptions but if there ratings go down the tiolet the cable companies won't want any part of them

[geschinger]

Yes and revenue increases dramatically with each win over 90.

Never seen that addressed, but I seriously doubt it 95 wins = substantially more revenue than 90 wins. Winning team gets good ad buys. I don't think there are advertisers waiting to pay a premium the last few weeks of the season if the team has a few extra wins.