Texting Mark Teixeira
I’ve said before that Mark Teixeira doesn’t care about playing for the Baltimore Orioles, and considering that he’s in a free agent market where the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are willing to throw money at him just so the other can’t get him, where do you think that leaves the historically-docile Orioles in the free agent sweepstakes?
Right where they were before.
But Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun made an interesting point in today’s paper. As hard as it will be to pry him out of the grasps of the Evil Empire and the Red Sox Nation, a hometown touch might just be the trick. His take?
Treat the guy like royalty. Call him. Text him. Invite him to dinner at his favorite restaurants. After all, it takes a lot to play in front of friends and family for an absolutely terrible team. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if the guy at least felt like he was king of the city. Teixeira knows there is no pitching, he knows they probably won’t be competitive in the AL East in the next 2-5 years, and he wants his next contract to be a long-term deal.
Add that in with the fact that he wouldn’t exactly fit in on the set of an Eastern Motors commercial, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an extended version of the homecoming from hell.
The Orioles are hoping to find a face for the frachise, and hope that it can be Teixeira’s mug on the sides of buildings and on banners along Pratt Street. It’s been a long time since the Orioles were a competitive team, and even longer since they’ve had a player identifiable to the casual baseball fan. They are better suited in pulling out all the stops for Mark Teixeira, because its going to be hard trying to lure a man back to a home where his heart doesn’t reside.
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Did you mean to put a zero after that five?
I think that the Orioles will be competitive in about five years. Once they get remake the infield, and build the pitching staff up, they’ll be ok.