Since that’s delusional, however, it kind of undermines your point. Teixeira is not signing for less than $20M a year, and I suspect someone’s going 7 or even 8 years for him.

teixeira is asking for 15 mil a year, i am sure billy beane would be after him already

looking to offer Tex a shorter term, higher dollar contract for about 4-5 years and probably 20+ million. IMO, he’s easily the best FA investment this offseason. He’s young, he’s a great hitter, and he plays GG defense at first. I don’t think he’s going to get that 10 year contract Boras is supposedly seeking, but I think he’ll get at least 7 years. Prior to the Holliday trade I wouldn’t have even seen a chance in hell the A’s kick the tires on him, but things have changed. If the A’s really do have somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million to spend, I think they will at least discuss Teixeira. It is, however, highly unlikely they will make an offer that will hang with those of the Angels, and Orioles. If he were somehow signed Barton could be used in a package for a 3B. It’s probably a pipedream, but so was Matt Holliday and the A’s making a run in 09’.

  The A’s should low ball Tex with a 6 year 90 million deal even though he will not bite on it. Boras will take that offer and brag on how the a’s are offering a 6 year deal. It will drive up the price on the Angels who will not want the A’s to beat them.

if the money is reasonable and they miss out on furcal…adding his bat would deepen the lineup

The market for Pat Burrell may be slow to develop, as teams weigh their offseason desires. Though Manny Ramirez and Burrell aren’t in the same free-agent class, they do play the same position, so teams may want to see where he ends first before turning to Burrell.

http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/11/burrell_market.html

Around 3 weeks ago, I took alot of criticism for suggesting we even look at signing Teixiera. I vowed to never return. However, AN & all of its excellent posts are too good to live without.
I got into it with PT for suggesting Teixiera or a player of his caliber may have a positive / unquantifiable effect or what I call the “Teixiera” effect on the entire A’s line-up or any MLB line-up he happens to be in. I tried to quantify presence but its difficult. Can we agree that Teixiera’s better than what we presently have & would help the A’s win more games? How many more wins is debatable.

Of course Teixiera cannot physically improve another player’s performance. That was not my point. Does a player of Teixiera’s caliber though, improve the ability & probability that a team with him in the line-up, has a better chance of winning? We then got into win shares, etc, with the cost of each win versus the cost of a cost controlled first baseman such as Hatteburg.

My other point was the A’s actually have the $$ to sign Teixiera. It appears we actually could sign Teixiera if Beane wanted to. To comprehend this, would have been heresy a year ago. IMO, I would much rather have the A’s sign Teixiera over Giambi or anyone else.

There is an excellent core of regulars here who really make this a great site. I am in & out of my house & I do not stay on the computer. If I fail to not make a quick response, please do not take this as ignoring any of you. I will chime in from time to time, because I truly enjoy AN, its content & its contributors.

My response would be the A’s have decided they can increase their payroll to a maximum of 80 Million dollars. If this is true, they could afford three players in the Chavez, Holliday & Teixiera price range. Over 10 million & South or a little North of 20 Million. The question remains what other player do you want. This is just for the 2009 A’s & their current fiscal restraint. If & when a new stadium is built, we as fans & critics can dream or criticize even more. Beane & Forst has set this up perfectly for 2009.

There was an excellent post awhile back about who would be the A’s first 100 Million dollar player. What if Holliday maintains his current productivity in 2009, likes the A’s, & is willing to sign for a fair market contract? IMO, the Holliday trade has truly spun AN & the franchise on its head.

What I keep hearing is there will be value in both Type A & B players after the elite free agents are signed. I would expect Beane to jump in & sign someone after the premium guys are signed. Beane is so completely unpredictable. We can go in any number of directions.

And he plays a position where the A’s have some minor league depth, and some potential talent with Barton. Especially when you have Carter and Doolittle who could be competing for the job in 2/3 years. You don’t want to buy an asset you already have, improve where you don’t have anything going.

There isn’t too much in the way of SS in the system. Crosby was kind of our attempt at a franchise SS, didn’t work out to well.

has basically come out and said he doesn’t plan on signing anything in the way of free agent starting pitching. It sounds like he wants to give the young guys a chance to shine with a good offense backing them. A lineup with Holliday/Teixeira in the 3-4 holes is gonna be good, period. It sounds like the Yankees don’t want to offer Tex a 5+ year contract so in JPSharkland (thanks PT), i’m hoping this lowers their chances of signing Tex quite a bit. The Yankees are one team I really expected to go out and offer 10 years $200 million to Tex, and still make a play on Sabathia. I think if Beane wants to have a good offense next year, a guy like Teixeira is worth $5 million more a season then guys like Burrell/Dunn/Giambi. Tex is one helluva hitter, and he can actually PLAY DEFENSE. I think the A’s should offer Tex a legit contract, something like 8 years $150 million and make it a little backloaded. This will give us Tex during his prime, and yes some of his decline, but overall it would be a solid deal for the A’s if you consider what Teixeira caliber players are going to be making in 3-5 years. After dropping half of Crosby’s contract the payroll would be sitting somewhere around $67 million, and Beane could still go out and sign Orlando Cabrera to a 2 year $16 million dollar contract. For the record, I still like him better then Renteria. Barton can be moved to 3B if Chavez isn’t healthy, or packaged in a deal for a young 3B.

to add that I realize 8 years seems like a lot but lets face it, the A’s are going to have to offer something pretty attractive to lure Teixeira away from the Angels/Orioles. Tex will still be playing for the A’s (barring a trade) through his age 36 season, where I think he will still be a productive player.

We don’t know how Holliday will adjust to 100% non-Coors season. Some players seem to do just fine, others fall off a cliff. If we’re going to bet the franchise on one player this off season, Teixeira is a lot less risky, so I tend to lean that way. I like making small bets with big upside and risk, but this is a huge bet, and we had better get good return or the A’s are totally screwed.