Pending physicals, the Texas Rangers are trading their slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira (pronounced te-share-a) to the Atlanta Braves. The deal is as follows:
Rangers get
star catching prospect Jared Saltalamacchia
shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus
2 prospect pitchers (believed to be Matt Harrison and Nestali Feliz)
Braves get
First baseman Mark Teixeira
Relief pitcher Ron Mahay
The problem with this trade for the Braves is that they will be giving up their three best prospects (Saltalamacchia ranked #36, Andrus ranked #65, and Harrison ranked #90 in Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects) for a slugger who could become a free agent after the 2008 season. Yet, he will add power to a lineup that could use it (especially when the Braves chief rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets have lots of power). Here are Teixeira's stats:
2005 Season 43 home runs, 144 runs batted in, .301 batting average, .575 slugging percentage
2006 Season 33 home runs, 110 runs batted in, .282 batting average, .514 slugging percentage
2007 (so far) 13 home runs, 49 runs batted in, .297 batting average, .524 slugging percentage
As for Mahay, he's been all over the map having season ERA's as high as 6.81 to as low as 2.52. Which Mahay will Atlanta see? Will Teixeira stay past 2008? Does Atlanta guarantee itself a playoff position with this trade and has it "morgaged the future"?
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