After hearing about Mark Teixeira signing with the Yankees, a little more than 180 million thoughts popped into my head. At this point, it's basically rambling, but I'm going to throw it down here in bullet form for all of you to enjoy.
- The Yankees swooped in and made the kill like some people thought they would. Personally, I didn't see it coming. I didn't think the Yankees could really afford to put up that kind of money after signing CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. I know they're rich, I just didn't know they were that stupid.
- What does this say about Teixeira? I'm not quite sure. He's got no soul, that's one thing. But since he didn't sign with the Nationals or Orioles means he cares about winning. I guess that's a good thing. But who cares about his character at this point? He's a damn Yankee.
- The worst part about this whole situation is being dragged along from the get go. If we were Nats or O's fans, we'd accept Teixeira not signing with us. But we were supposedly in the lead for almost the entire duration of the free agency period. If we were No. 2 or No. 3, fine. It just sucks getting smacked down like that so quickly.
- No matter how badly this hurts, though, there are a lot of positives to this. One is the Sox have A LOT of money to play around with. The consensus here at OTM was the money Teixeira wanted was way more than he was worth, so why spend it? Now we can put that money towards areas of real need.
- Speaking of money, Derek Lowe or John Smoltz anyone? The Red Sox need another starting pitcher and their hands are free now to make a splash. This even opens the door wider to the possibility of trading for Jake Peavy. That's not necessarily a money game, but it's a big move game that the Sox might want to play.
- The pressure in New York used to be really bad. The pressure now is through the roof. What happens if -- no, I'm going to say WHEN -- the Yankees finish behind the Red Sox in the standings? Think everyone in New York is going to throw a party or start jumping off bridges? If this team sucks, it will be World War III in the Bronx.
- The person resting easy now is Mike Lowell. I think we are all happy that Lowell will be back as a Sox and we don't have to ship him away. He's a character guy and didn't deserve all this crap from the beginning. Third base is yours, Mikey.
- Can't mention Lowell without mentioning Kevin Youkilis. Our gold glove first baseman is sticking at first base. That's a very good thing.
- In case anyone forgot, we still have a huge gap in our lineup: catcher. I really feel Jason Varitek will be back, but the question is the future. The Sox need to make some type of move to bring in a young catcher because another season with Varitek and Kevin Cash behind the plate won't be pretty.
- I think the Sox could have got Teixeira, but I give credit to the Red Sox front office for standing pat and not giving in to Scott Boras' terrorist demands. The Yankees were willing to do all that but the Sox wouldn't and we should applaud that. They stuck to their guns and the Sox will be better off for that.
- The rivalry is back ... if anyone thought otherwise.
- I think I've hit a wall here, but I'll leave everyone with one final message: the Red Sox are still a very, very good team. With or without Teixeira, this team will compete as long as people stay healthy. This was not a bust by any means. Teixeira is a Yankee, but so what? They had to spend over $400M dollars just to build a team that probably won't even finish better than the Sox this year. It's sad, really. We built a team through our farm system; they built a team through ticket sales. Who are the real winners?
Mike Lowell is one happy man now.