Red Sox News
December 22, 2008 by Mike
From Peter Gammons:
One source close to Teixeira said Friday that the two sides are not that far apart, and the conciliatory and civilized nature of those words made it obvious that Teixeira likes Mr. Henry’s neighborhood, he just wants the kitchen and heating system redone as part of the deal. Teixeira is a very bright man who might be willing to take Washington’s money (if it has been offered) or go back to Anaheim or welcome the Yankees into negotiations; he knows what he thinks he is worth, and he knows Scott Boras’ math says the Red Sox could sign him, Jason Varitek and Lowe and be right around last season’s payroll.
Teixeira has been the model of reliability — he’s played about 151 games a season with a .919 OPS to go with his 34-homer average. Look, CC Sabathia is a great pitcher and an even better person. Plus, he proved this past season how much he cares by risking his arm to try to bring a championship to Milwaukee. And he and Teixeira have helped each other this offseason. Yankees GM Brian Cashman flew to Sabathia’s house during the winter meetings and moved the Yankees’ offer from $140 million to $161 million because he feared that if Teixeira signed quickly with the Red Sox or the Nationals and the Angels then approached Sabathia with a $130 million-$140 million offer, he might give them the California discount.
Mike Lowell is sitting in Florida watching the Teixeira drama play out, probably wondering why he didn’t take the four-year offer from the Phillies at this time last year and instead decided to remain with the Red Sox for three years.
Then there’s Varitek; Boras turned down arbitration and a virtually guaranteed $10 million a year for the catcher, and now Varitek doesn’t have one offer. The Red Sox tried to get Miguel Montero from Arizona, but the D-backs wouldn’t do Daniel Bard for Montero. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein will not trade Michael Bowden, whom Epstein projects to be a very good major league starting pitcher.
If the Red Sox do not sign Baldelli, would they consider eating the final $22 million of Eric Byrnes‘ deal to get Montero? That has yet to be seriously discussed, but it’s something to consider down the line if the Red Sox can’t find a catcher.
That is all for another day. For two years, it has been the Red Sox’s plan to sign Teixeira. That plan remains. What remains to be seen is whether the Red Sox can quantify what Boras does or does not have in offers. When one side is talking about something between $170 million and $200 million, there is what Boras calls “the sticker-shock factor.” Especially when, in Epstein’s six years as general manager, the Red Sox have won two world championships, played in two more ALCS Game 7s and made only two major free-agent acquisitions — Daisuke Matsuzaka and J.D. Drew, both Boras clients.
The Red Sox did work out 22-year-old Junichi Tazawa, with the pitcher throwing major league baseballs. The difference between Japanese and American baseballs is even greater than the difference between balls used in college and those used in the minors and majors. This occasionally creates problems and has been a problem for Matsuzaka. Japanese baseballs are smaller and more pliable, and Matsuzaka, who has small hands, has had some problems with commanding certain pitches, so much so that Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell says, “We eventually had to eliminate two of his pitches because of the differences in the balls. Of course, what compounds the problem is that every major league team in Japan manufactures their own baseballs.”
Hence the private Tazawa workout with MLB baseballs.
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