So, it looks like Mark Teixeira is probably going to get dealt in the next 66 hours. Four teams have been rumored to be in talks with Atlanta--the Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Rays, and Angels.
Three of those make perfect sense. Arizona is currently platooning Chad Tracy and Tony Clark at first. The Angels have gotten an almost perfectly league average (in a normal year, at least) .259/.330/.421 line from their DHs this year, and Kotchman hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire himself, with a 104 OPS+. And the Rays have been rumored to be in the market for a bat for awhile, as their DHs have managed only a .681 OPS.
But the Red Sox? Without taking one of their big bats out of the lineup, the only thing they could do is move Youkilis to right and Drew to center. So their defense would clearly be downgraded--although I suppose they could still bring in Crisp/Ellsbury in the later innings--while the offense would be improved. But what's the point? It just wouldn't make them that much better. For that reason, I suspect they wouldn't be willing to give up as much as the other three, since their upgrade isn't as substantial. You never know, though.
By the way, I plan on doing a live-blog all day on Thursday. So that should be an adventure.
Original Story:
http://vegaswatch.net/2008/07/teixeir...
