Mr. Daniels:

The fate of the franchise is in your hands.

Mark Teixeira has worn out his welcome in Texas. As you know, he was candid with reporters before his rehab assignment Wednesday in Frisco.

At the end of the story on DallasNews, Teixeira said he cares about the Dallas-Fort Worth community and the team.

"Anybody who wants to paint a different picture, that's their prerogative," Teixeira said.

If Teixeira really cares about this community and his team, the rest of his comments don’t support it. There are some basic things I expect Teixeira to be sensitive to if he truly cares about the metroplex and the Rangers. It is for these five reasons that I say Mark Teixeira must be traded:

1. Don’t compare the Rangers to the Red Sox and Yankees. Yes, the Rangers should be spending more money. However, to suggest that they should be mentioned in the same breath as those two teams is crazy.

“But when the Yankees go out and get All Stars every year and the Red Sox go out and get All Stars every year, it shows you they want to compete and win," Teixeira said.

2. Don’t make threats. A lot of athletes talk about how they may stay if the team makes a move or gets better. If you really care about the community, you’ll make a commitment and stick around to help build a winner.

"I'm hoping it will happen this year or next year, but the window is closing," Teixeira said.

3. Don’t sell us the idea that it’s all about winning. Every time a big-name athlete talks about signing a contract, they bring up how important winning a championship is to them. Then, seemingly 99 percent of them sign a contract with the team who offered them the most money. Maybe it’s too much to ask for athletes to be honest and say they want the most money, but stop bullshitting us about how it’s all about winning.

"No player is going to sign up with a team knowing they are going to lose," Teixeira said. "When a player has the chance, they're going to go with a winner."

4. This one is a biggie. Whatever you do, don’t make Scott Boras out to be some kind of hero. Sure, agents are part of the game, but Boras has burned this franchise too many times and the last thing this area needs is some overpaid athlete singing his praises.

"You never hear teams that win World Series with Scott Boras clients on their rosters complain," Teixeira said. "When it comes to me, I think the Rangers should be thanking Scott Boras every day.”

5. When your team goes 16-11 while you’re on the DL after starting the season 22-39, keep your mouth shut.

Make no mistake. I realize Mark Teixeira is one of the best players in baseball. Personally, I don’t think it gets much better than a switch-hitter with power who plays Gold Glove defense.

In fact, one of my fondest baseball memories is taking my son to a game and Teixeira giving him an autograph on a baseball. I took pictures and had everything framed. Since then, I’ve started a collection of Teixeira memorabilia in my office.

As a fan of the Rangers, rooting for Teixeira was a natural fit. However, his remarks from Wednesday indicate he no longer wants to stay with the Rangers and he definitely disrespected the fans.

Go get the best deal you can for Mark Teixeira. There are plenty of teams with great prospects who would die to have a player like him. He’ll go somewhere else and be great, but it wasn’t meant to be and if you can get great young talent in return, it will help rebuild a damaged organization.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Tom Hicks gave you an extension. If you can get good value for Teixeira and make another significant deal, you’ll show everyone why Hicks had so much faith in you.

I want to believe this organization is headed in the right direction. Please give me hope.

Comments (0)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment