Ken Rosenthal with a new notes column up, that includes some criticism of the Mark Teixeira contract:
Two rival executives were critical of the Rangers for signing Teixeira to a two-year, $15.4 million contract, saying the team should have continued going year-to-year with Teixeira in arbitration if it could not sign him long-term.
Teixeria will earn $9.4 million in his second year, and that number probably won't represent much of a savings for the Rangers; Teixeira might have gone to $10 million in arbitration with another big season but probably not beyond, considering that Albert Pujols made $11 million at the same level of service time.
Meanwhile, Teixeria could suffer a major injury and the Rangers still would owe him $9.4 million. There was no urgency to do a two-year deal; the Rangers control Teixeira for three more years ...
Again, I guess, my reaction is...so what?
Yes, there is a risk that Teixeira would suffer a major injury. Say he blows out a knee and is out all of 2006...
In that case, the Rangers aren't going to non-tender him. He'd still likely get in the $7-8 million range for 2007 (probably more, if he went to arbitration this year and got awarded $7 million).
So the Rangers, by doing this deal now, get cost certainty, and are risking paying Teixeira a couple of million more than he might get if he suffered a season-ending injury in 2006, while avoiding the risk that he might make a million or two more in the arbitration process.