Teixeira Watch: Part VII- Owner Says Sox Are Out

[hihop07]

Yep, I am just amazed at how this can turn on a dime... heck, even a penny! All of us are just in this elaborate puzzle, and we'll finally find the light of the tunnel very soon, hopefully the light will be orange with a bit of black.

[BeerIsFood]

Everyone have a great night, and I will see you all in the AM (as in morning, not Andy Mac). :wedge:

[hihop07]

Tex has no idea what he really means to a lot of O's fans. No other team can give him instant hero status. He'll be an Oriole legend, right up there with the greats, provided he signs, doesn't opt out, and we build a good team around him. He'd be the first true statement that the Orioles were returning to rightful, proud place in the game of baseball.

Indeed. And this is the perfect fit and situation for both Mark and the Orioles as well as the fans because of his family, the location, the fans, his attraction/desire to play for the Orioles, and the fact that he'll be able to develop the foundation of the Orioles with Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, and others.

[crissfan172]

Tex has no idea what he really means to a lot of O's fans. No other team can give him instant hero status. He'll be an Oriole legend, right up there with the greats, provided he signs, doesn't opt out, and we build a good team around him. He'd be the first true statement that the Orioles were returning to rightful, proud place in the game of baseball.

Oddly enough, that makes Baltimore a very high-pressure place for him to play.

[RipkenWay]

I'm off to bed, too. Here's hoping we end up on the right end of all of this. Go O's!!

I'm heading for the bed myself. It's even getting late here out west. I hope to awake to some good news tomorrow. Goodnight all.

[OrioleWay27]

For the third time, WAT????

Where do you think I posted this? Here's a hint - I didn't.

Ah, my apologies, someone else actually said he was an All-Star pitcher.

Not sure what the point of your thought exercise was, since it implied you thought he was close to being an All-Star pitcher.

Either way, there are almost 20 AL guys (probably about 50 including the NL) I'd much rather have than Burnett, and he's extremely overpaid and fragile.

[DiehardO's]

Ah, my apologies, someone else actually said he was an All-Star pitcher.

Not sure what the point of your thought exercise was, since it implied you thought he was close to being an All-Star pitcher.

Either way, there are almost 20 AL guys (probably about 50 including the NL) I'd much rather have than Burnett, and he's extremely overpaid and fragile.

While he is very fragile, when healthy his stuff is nasty.

[MrMadison]

Greetings from Natsville.

I've been lurking here through out the whole Tex saga, just to see the other side's view of the proceedings.

I'm going to make my first post here to lay some things out for you guys, from a Nats point of view. This is going to be pretty long, so buckle up.

Note: I'm not here to argue, or bicker about whose catcher is better, or any crap like that. I'm just here to provide some facts for you guys, so that when you talk about the Nats, you are talking from a position of knowledge, and not assumption. This statment is not one of arrogance or trying to talk down to you guys or anything. I just want to make an attempt to clear some things up that I am seeing said here that I don't quite think are accurate. Take what I say and treat it however you like. I'm gonna split this into a few posts.

First off, the prevailing opinion among Nats fans is this:

The Lerners need to spend money and improve the Major League team. period. We would LOVE to have Tex and would cartwheel our asses all over the City if he were to sign with us. However, if he did not, we wouldn't be upset, provided that the Nationals turn to other options to get what we need. What we DO need though, is to see that the Lerners are willing to open their wallets and do what it necessary for the success of this franchise.

The Lerners, to date, have not show the willingness to spend the money needed to field a competitive Major League Team. However, they are not "broke." Far from it. They are loaded and they've got plenty of money to burn. They've just been CHEAP AS HELL. and it pisses all of us off. So take all the "they're struggling to pay rent" stuff and toss it. The rent-paying thing was a dispute between the Lerners and the City regarding some aspects of the stadium that the Lerners believed were not done according to the contract. They are very meticulous about contracts and expect them to be performed to the letter. Once this was done to their satisfaction, they paid the money the same day, as they had it stored away seperately from the rest of their money.

the "Lerners are Cheap" movement is very strong among the Nats fanbase, and it is the primary source of pretty much everything that you perceive as wrong in Nats Fandom. attendance(*only* 2.3mill), and general opinon of the Nationals. The prevailing opinion is "when the Lerners stop being cheap, I'll start paying attention."

However, there is one instance where the Nationals fans take absolutely no issue with the Lerners refusing to spend money.

Aaron Crow. This is where you make the "you couldn't sign your draft picks" jokes. have at it.

Aaron Crow can fornicate himself with a sharp wooden stick. He had no intention of signing with the Nationals at all. He set his price at an ridiculously unreasonable 9m(for a #9 pick?) right from the moment they called his name. From there, he and his agents refused to communicate in good faith with the Team to negotiate. They refused to talk on the phone or in person about it, preferring to send Emails to the team to tell them that they were not going to budge from 9m. The Nationals offered him 3.5, which was more than the highest pitcher taken(Matusz) got. We raised to 4.3 eventually, and still got the same stonewall response via email from his agents. Then, right at the deadline(about 15 minutes or so prior to the signing deadline), Crow's agents decide to pipe up, and lower to 4.5m. But by then it was already too late to get the deal done. This was a ploy by Crow's agents to completely blow the Nats off, while not damaging Crow's reputation for the next year's draft. He was never going to sign with the Nationals at all. Judging from the comments I routinely see, their ploy worked.

Nats Media Coverage and "nobody cares about the Nats because I haven't heard any sports talk about them." -

Fact: DC Sports Media only gives a sh*t about the Redskins. period. Especially since now all of the Radio talkers are owned by Dan Snyder.

DC's sports media has been substandard when it comes to the Nationals ever since they've been here. They've taken every bad publicity story they could find with the Nationals and ran it to death, front and center in bold print, while burying anything even remotely positive.

now, onto Tex:

Our biggest offensive needs right now are 1B and/or a Left-handed Power Hitter. Tex fills both of these needs, perfectly. Neither Nick Johnson, or Dmitri Young is at all reliable, and we can't continue to count on them finally being healthy enough to play a full season. NJ is snakebitten, and Dmitri just doesn't give a f*ck anymore.

Our stance is Tex is the primary objective. If no Tex, then Dunn is plan B. we lose defense there, but it is an offensive upgrade over what we've been putting out there. We're fine with whichever we can get. If we go into 2008 with the same set of First Basemen we had last season, the fans will be royally pissed.

Regarding our lack of Major League talent -

Things you need to know about our 2008 season:

every position player in our Opening day Lineup last season spent significant time on the Disabled List.

Dukes only played 81 games, and had 3 different stints on the 15-day DL. it can be said that he came back way too soon from his injuries, twice last season. he ended up hitting .264 with 13 hrs and a .386 OBP in 276 AB, after a HORRENDOUS start after coming back from his first injury(he hit in the .100s for like his first month and a half back). Dukes, if he can keep his head straight, is a superstar talent. He is a true 5-tool talent. He's got tremendous power, good speed(enough to easily cover CF), a great batting eye and plate discipline, and a Cannon for an Arm. His off-field problems have always been the big question mark(if only he could be as disciplined off the field as he is at the plate). but over a full season, a healthy Dukes will hit 30+ homers, with a decent average and a great OBP(he takes walks like a madman). I'm concerned about his tendency to rush back from injuries before they are fully healed though. I expect his numbers to improve drastically in 2009. I expect a .280/.360/.490-ish with 25-30 HR season for him next year.

Zimmerman played hurt for a while, and then spent significant time on the DL as well. he finished with a .283/.333/.442 with 14hrs in a little over 400ABs. that's not bad, but it isn't Zimmerman. I expect him to go back to his usual 25-ish Hrs, with a higher OBP in 09.

For some inexplicable reason, we spent the majority of 2008 allowing Wily Mo Pena and Austin Kearns to show us just how much they suck, while allowing Felipe Lopez to dog it at 2B all season, and paying Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada to be useless. and Lopez was clearly dogging it, because after we cut him, he started acting like he knew how to play baseball again in St. Louis. I don't expect Pena to be on the roster this year, Lo Duca and Estrada are gone, and I expect Kearns to be given some sort of redemption shot as a rotating 4th Outfielder.

Guzman had a monster season last year. I don't think he'll be great at all in 09, but if he is good enough, I consider him prime trade deadline bait.

Milledge was okay, in spurts. he showed flashes of brilliance last season(especially towards the end of the season), but was a liability in CF. I anticipate we move Dukes to CF and Milledge to a corner.

our team is relatively young, or rather it will be this season. the majority of our starting lineup, and projected rotation(barring FA pickups) will be in the mid-20s or younger. we've got Guzman at 31, Willingham at 30, and Kearns is 28 out of players would could be starters.

so while we are not there, we are on the right track, I'd like to think. The team will be younger, hungrier, and more exciting in 09, in my opinion. sticking a bat like Teixeira's in the middle of our lineup would benefit us more than you think it would.

Cristian Guzman - SS

Lastings Milledge - LF

Ryan Zimmerman - 3B

Teixiera/Dunn - 1B

Elijah Dukes - CF

Josh Willingham - RF

Jesus Flores - C

Anderson Hernandez - 2B

our lineup would look a little bit like that. which, imo knowing what our players are capable of, can surprise some folks who expect us to lose 100 games again next season.

just as a comparison to last season, Milledge was our #4 hitter. Flores was our #5 hitter. Kearns was playing like Crap, Lopez was playing like crap ON PURPOSE, and Wily Mo Pena was our 8th hitter because he couldn't get the ball out of the infield on a regular basis. Willie Harris was a starter. Kory Casto platooned with Ronnie Belliard and Aaron Boone at 1B.

the 09 lineup looks to be much better.

Yes, our Pitching needs help. No rational Nats fan would deny this. we've got Lannan, Olsen, and a bunch of question marks. can Colin Balester stick? and Shairon Martis make an impression? will Jordan Zimmermann be able to crack the rotation out of ST?

eh, this post is long enough. I'll continue with some Minor League thoughts in my next post. my main point with this particular post is that we aren't in quite as bad a shape as most think we are. we've shed a lot of the dead weight from last season. not all of it(we've still got Pena and Kearns), but most.

On to my next post, regarding the Minor Leagues.

[RayFink1e]

I thought Tex was in town until christmas? Now he is in Texas?

[Bleed Orange]

anyone who is reading that Nats fan's manifesto is crazy at 2:43am.

[OrioleWay27]

While he is very fragile' date=' when healthy his stuff is nasty.[/quote']

I agree, he can be dominant, but he can also get blown up with the best of them, such as when he allowed 8 runs to the Orioles. He gave up 6 or more runs 5 times last season, so when he's bad, he's really bad. Either way, he's a gross misallocation of money. I could be wrong though - I never thought Cliff Lee would be as good as he was last season. Burnett could turn out to be a nice pitcher with some more run support.

[RayFink1e]

When did Washington get a team? Do they have uniforms and stuff?

[MrMadison]

anyone who is reading that Nats fan's manifesto is crazy at 2:43am.

I agree. I'm writing my books here, then I'm going to bed. ya'll can read it in the morning. if you so choose.

[alskor]

However, there is one instance where the Nationals fans take absolutely no issue with the Lerners refusing to spend money.

Aaron Crow. This is where you make the "you couldn't sign your draft picks" jokes. have at it.

Aaron Crow can fornicate himself with a sharp wooden stick. He had no intention of signing with the Nationals at all. He set his price at an ridiculously unreasonable 9m(for a #9 pick?) right from the moment they called his name. From there, he and his agents refused to communicate in good faith with the Team to negotiate. They refused to talk on the phone or in person about it, preferring to send Emails to the team to tell them that they were not going to budge from 9m. The Nationals offered him 3.5, which was more than the highest pitcher taken(Matusz) got. We raised to 4.3 eventually, and still got the same stonewall response via email from his agents. Then, right at the deadline(about 15 minutes or so prior to the signing deadline), Crow's agents decide to pipe up, and lower to 4.5m. But by then it was already too late to get the deal done. This was a ploy by Crow's agents to completely blow the Nats off, while not damaging Crow's reputation for the next year's draft. He was never going to sign with the Nationals at all. Judging from the comments I routinely see, their ploy worked.

Maybe - just maybe - Bowden and the player development guys should have looked into his signability BEFORE the draft. You know, like every other team does? Are we supposed to be shocked that Aaron Crow was hard to sign? Everyone knew that going in. It was a national story. That's the reason he dropped. It was a calculated risk for the Nats, and apparently Crow had no intention of signing there. That's his prerogative and I dont think he really needs to go "fornicate himself with a sharp wooden stick" because of it. I still am of the opinion the blame lies with the Nats for either not doing their homework on the guy or taking a bad risk and then complaining about the consequences - sleazy tactics by Crow or his agents aside. Given the rest of your post is a long complaint about how cheap ownership is, its not exactly hard to see where Crow was coming from, frankly.

Besides, the Nats get a pick back for him this year...

[safoster]

Aaron Crow. This is where you make the "you couldn't sign your draft picks" jokes. have at it.

Aaron Crow can fornicate himself with a sharp wooden stick. He had no intention of signing with the Nationals at all. He set his price at an ridiculously unreasonable 9m(for a #9 pick?) right from the moment they called his name. From there, he and his agents refused to communicate in good faith with the Team to negotiate. They refused to talk on the phone or in person about it, preferring to send Emails to the team to tell them that they were not going to budge from 9m. The Nationals offered him 3.5, which was more than the highest pitcher taken(Matusz) got. We raised to 4.3 eventually, and still got the same stonewall response via email from his agents. Then, right at the deadline(about 15 minutes or so prior to the signing deadline), Crow's agents decide to pipe up, and lower to 4.5m. But by then it was already too late to get the deal done. This was a ploy by Crow's agents to completely blow the Nats off, while not damaging Crow's reputation for the next year's draft. He was never going to sign with the Nationals at all. Judging from the comments I routinely see, their ploy worked.

This is an instance where Jim Bowden needs to have the foresight to not draft the kid. If he is unsignable for your organization, use your top 10 pick on somebody who will sign and get him in the damn system.

Good post, though. There have been a few Nationals trolls creeping in here, and we appreciate real analysis rather than "our system is so deep lolz look at dominican leagz!!111!"