Yankees Miss-Out as Teixeira goes to Braves

The Atlanta Braves acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira today from the Texas Rangers in a deal involving catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and 4 other players according to ESPN.

The preliminary agreement includes Atlanta picking up lefty Ron Mahay and sending minor league shortstop Elvis Andrus and two pitching prospects over to Texas. One of the prospects according to The Fort-Worth Star Telegram is 19-year old pitcher Neftali Feliz, the other according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is left-hander Matt Harrison.

The deal, which is set to be finalized upon review of their medical records, solves two problems for the Atlanta Braves. They had a promising young talent in Saltalamacchia, but as a catcher he was stuck behind Brian McCann. The Braves are also involved in a tight pennant race just 5 games back in the loss column behind the Mets in the NL East and 2 behind the Diamondbacks for the Wild Card. Teixeira’s superior offensive and defensive skills can help them in their quest for the playoffs.

The 27-year old Teixeira missed most of June and some of July this season due to injury, but has put up impressive numbers even still. He is batting .297 with 13 homers 49 RBI’s and a .921 OPS. Teixeira has hit at least 33 homeruns and 110 RBI’s each of the last 3 seasons. He is not just a one-trick pony either winning gold gloves at first base in 2005 and 2006.

This deal ends rumors which have been persisting all season that Teixeira was going to the Yankees. Since the early season struggles of Josh Phelps and Doug Mientkiewicz the Yankees have been interested, but their refusal to include Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy in any deals is what likely kept the Yankees from being serious. Recently they have also had good offense from Andy Phillips who since taking over the everyday job at first is 33-for-105 (.314).

It makes sense for the Yankees to pass on this move. They are not as desperate for offense as they were earlier in the season and since have climbed into 2^nd place in runs scored in all of baseball. Also with Jason Giambi possibly returning next week there is already a glut of players vying for attention in the starting lineup.