Major League Mongering: Who's Going To Get Teixeira?

Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.

In what's been a pretty quiet trade market so far this season without any big name players switching jerseys, a lot of the focus has been on Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers. The first baseman is easily the best player available to any contending team who's interested, thanks to his big bat and gold glove defense. It's basically a given that Teixeira will get traded, but to whom?

The two teams who are competing against each other for Tex's services are the Braves and Angels. With a new movement by teams around the league to do everything possible to keep their top prospects, you would think that Jon Daniels would've jumped at the Braves offer. Jarrodd Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and the Braves best lefthanded prospect in Matt Harrison for Teixeira. That's three top notch prospects for one player. Considering the Rangers are entering a rebuilding process, that's exactly the kind of deal they'd have to be looking for.

The sticking point is that the Angels just won't go away. General Manager Bill Stoneman has told Daniels that he'd package Casey Kotchman, Joe Saunders and a prospect for Texeira, just as long as that prospect isn't Brandon Wood or Nick Adenhart. Daniels, of course, is telling Stoneman he wants either Wood or Adenhart in the deal.


So what Daniels has done is force Stoneman and John Schuerholz to battle one another to get Teixeira. It's a good idea for the Rangers to get more value, but it's also risky. It's not like Stoneman and Schuerholz are new to the game, and don't realize what's going on here. The Braves have made the better offer at the moment, and the longer Daniels waits on it, the bigger the chance Schuerholz asks to get C.J. Wilson from the Rangers as well. Something he wanted in the deal in the first place.

If I'm Daniels I send Teixeira to Atlanta for a couple of reasons. First being that the deal they've offered is pretty sweet. Getting 3-for-1 in this day and age just doesn't happen very often, so it's hard to pass up on the deal. The other reason is the future. The Angels are in the same division as the Rangers, and if they land Teixeira they also have the money to keep him around a lot longer than into next season. The Braves could also come up with the money to keep Teixeira in Atlanta, but at least then he's in an entire other league and wouldn't be around to torment the Rangers.

Previously at FanHouse:
Braves Up the Ante for Teixeira
Major League Mongering: Teixeira to Atlanta
Major League Mongering