It Takes Big News For ME To Not Mention An Almost No Hitter By John Lackey

I have loved Mark Teixeira for a long time. Even when he was with the Angels' divison rivals, The Rangers, I loved going to the ball park to watch him man the corners with Hank Blalock. It was never about rooting for them, but rather about getting the opportunity to see a well rounded baseball player. About watching someone who made the game exciting.

Teixeira, along with Blalock and David Wright, quickly became one of my favorite non-Angels position players. There was no show-boatiness about him. Simply a guy who knew how to bat and how to field and look flawless doing it.

So last season when the chance for him to come to the Angels was first talked about, I naturally got excited. But not too excited because Bill Stoneman never made moves like that, especially not when a guy like Casey Kotchman was coming along so well after being brought up through the system. And, true to form, the Angels didn't get Teixeira as he went to the Braves.

When the idea of him coming to the Angels this season came up, I was again excited. But not too excited, this time for another reason altogether. This time I wasn't excited because that young first baseman had become one of the best fielders in the league, making oustanding plays by digging short hops out of the dirt and leaping feet into the air to catch the ball on a nightly basis. And his power numbers were up. And then there was the fact that he was frequently the only Angel hitting. In a season where my favorite Angel had been on the disable list for so long he and the other young guys had really stepped up to make the Angels a fun team to watch, even when we weren't scoring runs.

So one can imagine my excitement when I got a phone call from my friend, Mikael today-

"Hey Buddy, did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"Teixeira signed!"
"WITH WHO?? US?"
"Yes!"

I couldn't have been more ecstatic. Finally I would have a chance to watch Teixeira play on a daily basis.

"For who?"
"Kotch."

And then the excitment went away and the heartbreak set in. Now it isn't that I'm not excited to have this quality player on my team. But honestly watching Casey defensivly has been so much fun over the past two years (the only times he has played 100 or more games in a season). And watching him mimic Garet Anderson at the plate has been nothing short of a pleasure. Casey has truly become an important part of the Angels' team, and I doubt that 8 more home runs so far this season is worth giving him up.

Perhaps more importantly it was silly to give up a guy who was so good for a veteran rental. Especially when that veteran rental is for a third of the season and hasn't had the opportunity to perform in the post season.

I never thought I'd say it, but I think getting Mark Teixeira was a bad idea. If he was going to stay for longer than the remainder of this season the deal would have been done by the end of the day. Hopefully I am wrong, but in the mean time good luck to Casey, however with talent like he has he doesn't need luck- he's good!