According to Yahoo! Sports, the Angels have withdrawn their offer to Mark Teixeira. I take a few things from this:
- It’s pretty dumb of the Angels, if it’s true. They are pretty much the only team that “needs” him. Maybe they’ll take a look at Manny and save Yankees fans from Randy Levine stepping in and signing him. On the other hand, the Angels could sign Jason Giambi for a one year deal until they can find something better to plug in. While he is said to be close to signing with the A’s, the Angels could with no doubt offer more money. Batting average and overrated first base fielding ability aside, their numbers are pretty similar.
- This might actually make it more likely that Teixeira will end up with the Red Sox. The bidders that we know are certain far are the Nationals, the Orioles and the Red Sox and Boston offered a deal for something like 8/180. If nobody comes up to offer that 10 year deal that Boras is looking for and he wants to play for a big name team right away, then Boston it is. Baltimore would likely become good over the course of his contract, but if you can’t get what you’re looking for other factors come into play.
- This may be a sign that teams are recognizing that while Teixeira is an elite MLB player (there is no doubt of this) he isn’t really worth the deal that you’d give someone like Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols if he hit the open market.
Finally, I found this paragraph in the article really funny because it shows you how the Yankees get tied to things when there isn’t any evidence they’re involved:
The Angels’ withdrawal would appear to narrow the field for the switch-hitting Teixeira to the Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles and, presumably, the Red Sox and New York Yankees. It is unknown if the Yankees have made an offer on Teixeira or if the Red Sox’s offer – believed to be in the neighborhood of $170 million over eight years – still stands.
