Posted by EnySpree:

word....26 championships.....just say that and it will shut a hater right up. especially a Mets fan. there's no way around it.....yankees can lose for the next 20 years and still have 26 championships. holla if you hear me.

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Just saw it on the bottomline of ESPN. Buster Olney reporting it.

I'm not a big Tex fan at all... the guy was more interested in playing with the Nationals or the Orioles until the Yankees probably blew him away with money.

he always wanted to play for ny (he idolized mattingly). that's why he came back to us.

haha sure. or the angels pulled out, red sox wouldn't up their offer, and all that was left with the nationals...cue the yanks are the place i always wanted to be talk.money

For Teixeira, the choice was Yankees or Nationals
By Roch Kubatko on December 25, 2008 10:30 AM

Happy holidays to all.

Did anyone receive an Orioles-related present this morning? I'm guessing there had to be a road jersey in somebody's gift pile.

I didn't want the day to pass without filing an entry. I just hope I'm not hurting the team by keeping my streak alive. Next think you know, Ken Rosenthal will be writing a column saying I need to sit down.

If anyone has taken the tour of Camden Yards, you've heard the story from the press box about Rosenthal's laptop being destroyed by a Cal Ripken foul ball. Rosenthal had written a column the night before suggesting that Ripken end The Streak. The screaming line drive that sent his laptop crashing to the floor was a delicious irony. Or maybe it was a coincidence. I always get those two confused, and I'm not asking Alanis Morissette because she obviously has no idea, either.

I had already filed my notes for The Sun, so I handed over my computer to Rosenthal so he could continue working. He's such a professional, he just took it all in stride. No panic at all, despite having to start over in the middle of the game while on a tight deadline. A lesser columnist would have freaked out.

Rosenthal reacted to the line drive as most of us do in that situation. We save ourselves - which is why our chairs come with wheels. We don't think to close the laptop first before getting out of harm's way.

I've stuck out my hand on occasion in a futile attempt to make a catch, but that ball would have sent my fingers scattering in all directions.

Ripken had no idea what happened until after the game, when former PR director John Maroon rushed to his locker with the news. Ripken's response went something like this:

"Cool."

Anyway, just one more note on Mark Teixeira: I've heard from a reliable source that the first baseman turned down about $5 million more from the Nationals to sign with the Yankees. And the Nats would have gone higher, but were never given the chance. Teixeira jumped at Brian Cashman's first offer.

I guess it wasn't ALL about the money - just mostly about it. Being on a contender every year also brings a certain appeal.

At least Orioles president Andy MacPhail didn't waste all his time and energy on Teixeira while ignoring the club's primary needs. He still worked each day to improve the rotation and find another catcher. He'll continue to look for another bat, whether it's an outfielder, first baseman or primary designated hitter. The "plan" wasn't put on ice while Teixeira gave Baltimore the cold shoulder.

"We didn't miss a beat," MacPhail said on Tuesday.

They just missed out on the local kid.

Posted by jaydh:

i don't hate the yankees at all, i respect a lot of their players. the fans are the tools.

Boston reaction to Yankees signing Mark Teixeira is swift and fierce

By JESSE SPECTOR
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, December 24th 2008, 2:03 PM


It won't be a very merry Christmas for Red Sox Nation, which a week a go seemed to be on the verge of celebrating Mark Teixeira's arrival in Boston, but now must deal with the slugging first baseman in pinstripes for the next eight years.

The reaction up north was swift and fierce, starting with Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, who summed it up as "a kick in the pants."

"Whether or not you wanted to see Teixeira in a Red Sox uniform next year, you're missing the point. The Red Sox wanted him and they wanted him badly," Massarotti wrote. He took issue with the stance of Red Sox ownership losing its high-stakes poker game with Scott Boras over "$1 million-$2 million a year, roughly 1 percent of their 2008 payroll."

"It simply makes no sense to stop bidding based on principle," he wrote, "particularly after dropping $51.11 million for the rights to Daisuke Matsuzaka and another $70 million for J.D. Drew."

Massarotti's Globe colleague, Nick Cafardo, wrote that "(the Angels and Nationals) were losers in this one, but not more so than the Sox, who got the old double whammy - losing the player they wanted to the Yankees." Cafardo talked to a general manager who "suggested ... that Derek Lowe has now become a key player," so maybe the Red Sox will take out their Teixeira frustrations on New York's other team - though the Globe reported on its "Extra Bases" blog Wednesday morning that Lowe is closing in on a deal with the Mets.

The Globe-produced fan site Boston Dirt Dogs took its usual stance - after fawning over Teixeira a week ago, their "Yankee Flipper" story featured several snappy one-liners, including "Bronx Bumblers Overpay for Overrated First Baseman, DH-Type." This from a site that a week ago asked, "Is There a Portuguese Prince on the Horizon in Boston?" and reminded the loyal legions "It's Pronounced Tei-SHAIR-ah ... But Boston Will End Up Calling Him Tex." They'll probably be calling him something else now.

Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald cautioned that the Red Sox must deal not only with the Yankees but also those American League champions from Tampa Bay. For any post-deal spinmeisters, he added, "Losing out on Teixeira leaves the Red Sox without an upgrade in the middle of their batting order. The Sox had projected Teixeira as the kind of run-producer who could replace Manny Ramirez in the lineup, without replicating Ramirez's penchant for off-field drama and distraction."

Last but not least, Curt Schilling was very reasonable writing on his blog, urging Boston fans to "Please stop with the greedy bum statements too, all of you screaming that would be saying nothing if the Sox had ante'd up. I'm surprised but I don't think nearly as much as most others. Why? Because not once, never, did you hear ANYTHING from Mark in this entire charade. This is how Scott Boras works, and his clients love him for it. Mark never said he wanted Boston, sources 'close to negotiations' did. That and a handful of nickels will get you a quarter."

Schilling also offered a succinct analysis of the Yankees' end of the move, writing, "I think the Steinbrenners, coming off a miserable last season in Yankee Stadium, are dead set on opening the new stadium with a World Series and they don't care how much it costs. Good for them. You can bitch all you want about the Yankees and greed but they spend money in a sincere effort to win it all, every year. What fan wouldn't want their teams to do that."

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by djsunyc:
best starting 5 in baseball.
best bullpen in baseball.
best closer in baseball.

oh i don't know.. btw, i'm sure i could pluck about 100 comments in the yanks thread.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by djsunyc:
best starting 5 in baseball.
best bullpen in baseball.
best closer in baseball.

oh i don't know.. btw, i'm sure i could pluck about 100 comments in the yanks thread.

i'll just talk about my post:

best starting 5 - who's better?
best bullpen - who's better?
best closer - who's better?

There's no point in even asking now. We have an old team that could easily have tons of injuries like last year. In all recent Cashman years we've looked better on paper than on the field.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by djsunyc:
best starting 5 in baseball.
best bullpen in baseball.
best closer in baseball.

oh i don't know.. btw, i'm sure i could pluck about 100 comments in the yanks thread.

i'll just talk about my post:

best starting 5 - who's better?
best bullpen - who's better?
best closer - who's better?

There's no point in even asking now. We have an old team that could easily have tons of injuries like last year. In all recent Cashman years we've looked better on paper than on the field.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters

So they do have one of the oldes teams, and more importantly most of their key players are old.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by djsunyc:
best starting 5 in baseball.
best bullpen in baseball.
best closer in baseball.

oh i don't know.. btw, i'm sure i could pluck about 100 comments in the yanks thread.

i'll just talk about my post:

best starting 5 - who's better?
best bullpen - who's better?
best closer - who's better?

There's no point in even asking now. We have an old team that could easily have tons of injuries like last year. In all recent Cashman years we've looked better on paper than on the field.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters

So they do have one of the oldes teams, and more importantly most of their key players are old.

& the Muts have an even older team... so what was the point of your last response to dj's post? most of the key players on the Yankees over 30 are some of the most durable players in baseball... Jeter, ARod, Mariano, Moose (last year), Andy... sure we have injuries just like every team in baseball has injuries... u think being young means u'r less likely to get injured? do u realize how many young 20 yo's that have to undergo Tommy John surgery every year or run into other arm issues?

Yes, adult humans are more injury-prone on average as they age and last year's injuries should not be surprising. Nor should a similar number this year. That's why we need to continue going overboard so that we can afford to deal with an above average number of injuries to our older than average team. At a minimum, get Manny and Andy. That would put us at a payroll right around the payroll we were able to afford last year.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by jaydh:

Posted by djsunyc:
best starting 5 in baseball.
best bullpen in baseball.
best closer in baseball.

oh i don't know.. btw, i'm sure i could pluck about 100 comments in the yanks thread.

i'll just talk about my post:

best starting 5 - who's better?
best bullpen - who's better?
best closer - who's better?

There's no point in even asking now. We have an old team that could easily have tons of injuries like last year. In all recent Cashman years we've looked better on paper than on the field.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters

So they do have one of the oldes teams, and more importantly most of their key players are old.

& the Muts have an even older team... so what was the point of your last response to dj's post? most of the key players on the Yankees over 30 are some of the most durable players in baseball... Jeter, ARod, Mariano, Moose (last year), Andy... sure we have injuries just like every team in baseball has injuries... u think being young means u'r less likely to get injured? do u realize how many young 20 yo's that have to undergo Tommy John surgery every year or run into other arm issues?

Yes, adult humans are more injury-prone on average as they age and last year's injuries should not be surprising. Nor should a similar number this year. That's why we need to continue going overboard so that we can afford to deal with an above average number of injuries to our older than average team. At a minimum, get Manny and Andy. That would put us at a payroll right around the payroll we were able to afford last year.

u'r harping on getting younger because in your mind age = increased chance of injuries, but u wanna target 2 guys in their mid 30's... that makes a whole lotta sense.

You're great at changing the subject once you've been defeated on the current one.