With Texas in the Series, we reconsider the Teixeira trade
Two of the five most important players on a big-league team are the shortstop and the closer. The Texas Rangers, gracing the World Series for the first time in their existence, have young All-Stars at both spots. They came courtesy of the Atlanta Braves.
July 31, 2007: The Braves sent five prospects to Texas for first baseman Mark Teixeira and reliever Ron Mahay. They won that night — Teixeira hadn’t yet arrived — to draw within 3 1/2 games of the Mets in the National League East. They would get no closer, finishing in third place, five games behind the division-winning Phillies.
July 29, 2008: Knowing Teixeira, who would become a free agent at season’s end, wouldn’t re-up with them, the Braves traded him to the Angels for first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor-league pitcher Steve Marek. The Braves were in fourth place, 7 1/2 games out of first. Teixeira played 157 games as a Brave, hitting .295 with 134 RBIs and 37 homers. As a Brave, he spent one day — April 6, 2008 — in first place.
The first Teixeira trade has been characterized as the worst in Braves’ history, which it wasn’t — the Len Barker and J.D. Drew moves were worse — and has been credited with energizing the entire Rangers’ organization in a way one deal seldom does. And as Braves general manager Frank Wren settles back to watch the Fall Classic, does he think to himself: “Boy, we could’ve used Elvis Andrus [the All-Star shortstop] and Neftali Feliz [the All-Star closer]?”
Said Wren: “Whenever there are guys who were in your organization, you always wonder, ‘What if?’ But you have those same ‘what-if?’ thoughts before you make any trade.”
Wren did not consummate the first Teixeira trade. That was the last major transaction made by John Schuerholz, now the team president. But Wren was Schuerholz’s deputy in July 2007 — he would become GM in October of that year — and was, like most everyone around the Braves back then, in agreement that landing an All-Star first baseman who’d played at Georgia Tech was worth the cost.
Wren again: “We’ve just seen how precious getting into the postseason really is, and there’s always a thought that you’re willing to take a risk if there’s a chance of that happening.”
The first Teixeira trade did not bankrupt the Braves’ farm system. The organization has since turned out Tommy Hanson, who finished third in the 2009 rookie of the year voting, and Jason Heyward, who will probably win the 2010 award. And the two major prospects the Braves sent to Texas — Andrus and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia — played positions that seemed well stocked.
The Braves had Brian McCann catching ahead of Saltalamacchia, and they had a young shortstop named Yunel Escobar who’d just made his major-league debut. “Actually,” Wren said, “we had both [Edgar] Renteria and Escobar ahead of Andrus.”
Literally and figuratively, Saltalamacchia was the biggest name among Braves’ prospect, and more than three years later his career still hasn’t taken wing. He was the Opening Day catcher for Texas this April and drove in the winning run with a walk-off single; it was his final RBI as a Ranger. He got hurt, developed problems throwing the ball back to the pitcher, languished in the minors and was traded to Boston on (that day again) July 31.
Neftali Feliz after closing out the Yankees. (AP photo)
As for the other parts of the package: Matt Harrison, a left-handed pitcher, was a member of the Rangers’ starting rotation the past three seasons but was demoted to the bullpen this summer and wasn’t on the Texas roster for either the Division Series or the ALCS; Beau Jones, another lefthander, hasn’t risen above Class AA.
So essentially the deal can be boiled down to Andrus and Feliz for 157 games’ worth of Teixeira. The Braves liked Andrus but thought Escobar would be the greater run-producer. Given that the Braves tired of Escobar’s moods and traded him to Toronto for the 33-year-old Alex Gonzalez in July … yes, it would have been nice to have had a younger option still in the chain.
And if Feliz had been a Brave, Wren mightn’t have spent $6.75 million on Billy Wagner, and perhaps that money could have been better spent buying another outfielder. But Wren notes: “At the time of the trade, Feliz was in Danville [meaning rookie ball].” Meaning: There was no guarantee he’d be this good.
The Braves saw an opening in July 2007 and made a move. It didn’t work, and they moved on. And for what it’s worth, the 2010 Braves did finish with a better record than did the Rangers.
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October 27th, 2010
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Bubba
October 27th, 2010
1:44 pm
Phillies Suck. The whole state of Penn sux
what of it?
October 27th, 2010
1:44 pm
The Texiera trade was all part of the “win now” strategy, just like this year with the escobar trade. Here’s the problem: unless you’re a big money team (which the braves aren’t) you can’t trade away the farm to get one bat (who did little in the clutch). Also if your strategy is “win now,” you better win now and not limp in the backdoor of the playoffs.
Lady Ga (tramp) Ga
October 27th, 2010
1:45 pm
Does anyone watch MLB? less than 1/3 speak english
Javy
October 27th, 2010
1:46 pm
You speek a spanny?
delusion
October 27th, 2010
1:47 pm
I can honestly say I was against the trade for the simple fact that Tex’s agent was scott boros. What agent did the braves have a terrible relationship with? Scott boros. Plus Boros had turned down an 18 million per year offer from the Rangers. The deal had rent a player for a year and a few months written all over it. Just like the JD drew for Wainright deal with the cards. How did we fail to learn from that trade? It is true that there are no guarantees with minor league players but Elvis sure looked the part of future all star during his time with the Braves org. And now that Feliz is a stud it makes it that much more painful. I absolutely hate the rent a player for top prospect gamble. The Braves should build thru their farm system just like the rangers have done. Wren needs to be more patient now that Cox is gone and build with young players because that is the way to go if your team is an under 100 million payroll team. Just my two cents.
Skeezix
October 27th, 2010
1:50 pm
The Tex trade isn’t in my top 10 worse Braves trades ever. I agree the Len Barker trade was the worse. I also agree that the J.D. Drew trade was a real loser. I still remember how angry I was when they traded away Dye. With Tex, it only made sense to me if we were going to keep him. So I didn’t like the deal from that standpoint. To me, it isn’t J.S.’s worse deal by any means but, as things turned out, it surely wasn’t John’s at his best.
T-Bone
October 27th, 2010
1:51 pm
I’m probably the other way around from most here. I didn’t like the trade when it happened. I thought it was too expensive–5 for 2–and though in hindsight it was not as bad I had feared, I don’t think it was as good as people here are making it out to be. Here’s why: 4 of the 5 we traded are still with the Rangers, but we have nothing to show for it. Tex is gone, Mahay is gone, even Kotchman is gone (did we trade him or just release him?). So even though the numbers this year show that the trade doesn’t look all that bad, we don’t know what the future for Andrus, Feliz, and even Salty will look like (much less Harrison and Jones). IMO, this trade will look worse and worse if Andrus and Feliz continue to haev All-Star, or all-star-type, seasons. Andrus is the one we will miss the most.
KEV
October 27th, 2010
1:52 pm
LOL Navigator Wren wasn’t the GM when they traded for Teixeira.
reckingball
October 27th, 2010
1:52 pm
Delusion……….You are right, they were rent-a-player deals for minor league prospects.
balismith
October 27th, 2010
1:55 pm
so who is the next shortstop in the braves chain…the current one seems old and rusty to me
Ted M
October 27th, 2010
1:57 pm
Gonzo stinks and he’s a non-hustle guy just like Escobar.
KEV
October 27th, 2010
1:57 pm
T-Bone we traded Kotchman to the Red Sox for LaRoche last year.
KEV
October 27th, 2010
1:59 pm
Our notable shortstop prospects include Tyler Pastornicky, Matt Lipka and Edward Salcedo. Pastornicky is the only one ANYWHERE NEAR ready.
Supes
October 27th, 2010
2:01 pm
The problem is that Mark T. did not end up signing here with the Braves. If he had done that, this trade would be OK. Instead we got Casey Kotchman and a reliever…that’s all the Braves had to show for this trade long term…and how did that work out for us?
reckingball
October 27th, 2010
2:03 pm
JS had to of known that the Braves would never be able to resign Texshareya.
Skeezix
October 27th, 2010
2:04 pm
Glad baseball is back on tonight (I am starting to go into withdrawal). Go Giants and remember to thank Brian for the home field advantage.
charliesherman3
October 27th, 2010
2:12 pm
“And for what it’s worth, the 2010 Braves did finish with a better record than did the Rangers.” Now, they’re playing the team that not only put the Braves out of the playoffs, but beat the Braves’ most dominant rival. Baseball is like life, it’s just weird sometimes.
Hillbilly Deluxe
October 27th, 2010
2:13 pm
Deals like the Teixeira trade aren’t made with the future in mind; they’re about right now. When a team has a shot at a pennant, they have to make an immediate choice. Will this deal give us a shot to get to the playoffs? A team never knows if it’s going to be in the same position again, anytime soon. What looks like a team with a good long term future this year, may be in disarray next year, due to injuries, off-years or other unknown circumstances. So when teams see a chance to go all the way, most times they go for it. If the deal works out and you go the World Series, you look like a genius. If you fall short of the playoffs, especially if some of the players you traded go on to big things, then you look like a dunce. That’s baseball.
Nick n Nash
October 27th, 2010
2:18 pm
The problem with the Tex trade is that, deals like that one only work when you have a good pitching staff. The 2007 braves pitching staff was from playoff caliber. It’s hard for one player to step up and take the entire team to the playoffs. That’s the main reason why this trade flopped, and in hindsight should never have happened. Although with the depth of the players, I can understand why JS pulled the trigger.
GT Alum
October 27th, 2010
2:43 pm
The main problem with the Teixeira trade is that you don’t trade that many prospects for a rental, unless you expect him to be the guy that pushes you from being a playoff team to a championship team. Anytime you send 5 quality prospects in a deal, you have to figure that enough of them are going to turn out to be good enough that fans will be wishing you still had them a few years down the road.
Even though JS publicly left the door open at the time, it seems like they never really had any intent to re-sign him. That means this trade was basically going to be based on the Braves’ playoff success with Tex as a member of the team. Since they didn’t even make the playoffs either year, yes, this trade is going to be ripped, and nothing anyone says is going to change that.
Oh, and I personally reserve the right to criticize this trade, because I thought at the time that was a lot to give up for him unless we were planning to re-sign him. Being a Tech alum, I was excited at the thought of having Tex as a Brave, but I was worried that it could end up about like it has, although I thought we’d at least make the playoffs.
hawesg
October 27th, 2010
2:54 pm
Something to consider when teams come calling for Teheran, Delgado and Vizcaino.
PTC DAWG
October 27th, 2010
2:58 pm
It is painfully obvious that this was one of the worst trades in Braves history.
Nolan Ryan
October 27th, 2010
2:58 pm
Dear Braves:
Thanks.
SUCKERS.
Sincerely yours,
Nolan Ryan
glorydays
October 27th, 2010
3:00 pm
I can’t help but think it was a JS 0ut the door let’s do what will look best for me now I can get us in the playoffs this year and let others worry about next year. I didn’t like the trade then. This trade will haunt us for the next 15 years, just like the JD Drew trade does now. Let’s not forget Neagle for Schmidt. He lucky with the McGriff trade and looked like a genius but boy have we ever paid for his attempts to do it again.
ward
October 27th, 2010
3:01 pm
Braves did not choke, and they lost,because wren didn’t make them good enough to go all the way.don’t forget we have that 18 or 19 year old cuban shortstop who is supose to be better than escobar.yes: we did,’t have to trade escobar or elvis andrus, but wren did. he has a way of trading good players away for crap, and getting nothing in return. then he leaves your farm system in terrible shape when he’s does go. wren do us a favor, and just leave….. Go!!! Braves!!!!
Roger
October 27th, 2010
3:04 pm
John Schuerholz was unquestionably the worst, and I mean worst, General Manager I have seen in baseball. Sure, every once in a while he got lucky. But … when I see former Braves farmhands stocking lineups of virtually every team in the major leagues, can there be any doubt?
Schuerholz was the beneficiary of an incredible scouting staff and farm system which he raped for ill advised, short-term “benefits”. And to think that the sportswriters, particularly the AJC boys, talk up Schuerholz for the Hall of Fame. Give me a break!
ward
October 27th, 2010
3:04 pm
kev: wren was gm when he did the trade,because espn showed him on the phone doing it, and talking about it on t.v.Go!!! Braves!!!
Ramona
October 27th, 2010
3:04 pm
Rangers Manager Ron Washington may have a cocaine problem, but at least he isn’t at risk of being deported back to Cuba like the new skipper for the Braves.
Whopper Dawg
October 27th, 2010
3:07 pm
A very expensive 157 days. I didn’t like the tactic the JS adapted in his later years which was to trade prospects for the “missing piece” during the summer. The missing piece never did fit and we lost a lot of prospects.
Ron
October 27th, 2010
3:08 pm
Horrible and stupid trade even if these guys didn’t pan out as we didn’t accomplish anything with the trade. And that is what you look at.
Ted Striker
October 27th, 2010
3:08 pm
Two reasons I don’t knock the trade:
1) 2007 looked to be a make or break year. Simply put, it looked like 2007 was the team’s best bet at success, at least for 4+ years.
2) The team appeared to be a single key offensive player away from a successful post-season run. Maybe they were. Unfortunately, the guy who looked to be “the guy” wasn’t. Nothing a person can do about that. (Even Payton Manning threw an INT in the Super Bowl with the game on the line. Are you gonna second guess having him in the game?)
Those things said, I DO knock personnel decisions for ‘08-’10. It was my belief that after the failed experiment in ‘07, that the team should’ve been blown up with an eye to 3 years down the road. Maybe the Braves would’ve been a year or two behind the Rangers however they’d have been in a better position going into 2011 and 2012 than they are now.
ward
October 27th, 2010
3:10 pm
schuerholtz left the kansas city farm system in trouble, and when things got tight. he left, and came over here too. we should just keep our young talent, and if trade them, make sure you get somebody with great value in return,or don’t trade at all! Go!!! Braves!!!!
ward
October 27th, 2010
3:13 pm
maybe espn can give wren worst gm of the year award for the espy’s.
sg10
October 27th, 2010
3:15 pm
They key is, we were getting Taxeira for 1.5 years which is different than half year deal. Plus his salary wasn’t much at that time so Texas had to get something back in return. We had to give up some prospects at the positions we were well stocked up at that time. Nothing wrong with it. The deals like these make trading worthwhile for the teams. If there were no success stories for anyone then nobody would make a deal. I am happy that the deal worked out for the Rangers. We got good production from Taxeira although he didn’t too many clutch hits. I wish we had gotten better deal when we traded him to Angels.
observation
October 27th, 2010
3:15 pm
I find it interesting how everyone completely overrates Andrus as a player. He honestly is a slightly above average short stop. The only thing keeping him from being completely average is that he has speed and can steal some bases.
However, for this season, he hit .265 with 0 homeruns, 35 RBI’s, and scored 88 runs. All of those numbers are fairly underwhelming, especially the power numbers. The only area where you can say he excels offensively is base stealing, as he did steal 32 bases, which is a good number, but nothing that blows you away either.
All in all, Andrus has been a slightly above average major league short stop. He is nothing close to the start that some people have perceived him to be.
turkdawg
October 27th, 2010
3:16 pm
i can’ read all of these comments, so i apologize if this has been covered, but the photo is not andrus; it’s feliz. also the first line of your article is patently false. a closer is not one of the five most important players on a team. any closer. any team. ever. this proves you don’t understand baseball and discredits the rest of the column. whatever you think of the first tex deal, and i don’t think it’s good, but not as bad as some other people do, you’re missing the point. it wasn’t even the worst deal involving tex; the one where they dumped him for kotchman, who is a bust/bum and marek, a 26/27 year old reliever who has yet to see the bigs is horrible return. they panicked. why would tex have been worth less than he was the previous trade deadline? he wasn’t. hold your water and if you don’t get an offer you like, you offer arbitration and get your two draft picks and restock the system in an affordable manner. they’d have much better off with the picks. shame on the braves for a poor move, but shame on you for poor analysis and lazy writing. boo.
Heisenberg
October 27th, 2010
3:18 pm
I did not like acquiring Tex because I viewed him as someone who puts up big numbers, but not a difference maker. Had he been the kind of player that makes everyone else around him better, the Rangers would have had more success. Just like another over-hyped former Ranger now playing for the Yankees. Sure they won a WS but only as parts of the team – not the key missing ingredient. Look at Seattle. They got better after ARod left. Texas did not miss him either. Michael Young replaced him at short at the Rangers got better. Same goes with Tex. When a team looses a “Superstar” and they have the same or better record without him, is he really a superstar? Look at the Braves record with and without Tex. What difference did he make? Other than subtracting some prospects we could use today.
So I say not interested whenever a BIG NAME free agent or player near the end of his contract comes available. The ROI just is not there. Build a team with quality affordable hard working players over 1 or 2 overpaid superstars.
ward
October 27th, 2010
3:19 pm
bret butler didn’t hit for power either, but he delivered the goods in center field. you don’t have to have power just to play baseball. Go!!! Braves!!!
ward
October 27th, 2010
3:22 pm
well see you later i gotta go to work. Go!!!! Braves!!!!
Texas Frenchy
October 27th, 2010
3:44 pm
Very simple, if you knew you couldnt afford to try & keep him then why trade at all??? .300 avg., 37 bombs & 134 rbi in what amounts to 1 full season (157 games) oh what would the Bravos be willing to pay to have that at 1st base now??? Shoulda signed him to new extension before the trade was finalized, another bonehead trade by JS the genius!!!
Tired Of It
October 27th, 2010
3:44 pm
Everyone continues to try and put the blame on Melky, who by the way, had a better season than Mclouth, Diaz, Ankiel, or Conrad. Those players named did nothing this past season. Melky outplayed all 4 of them collectively. And Chipper has done nothing but steal money since his mvp season, at least nothing to justify his contract! ALSO, Texeira was not a great player here in Atlanta. His stats were decent for his 1 1/2 years service, but it doesn’t justify what the Braves gave up to get him, in this respect he was no better than Michael Tucker!. You guys sure have a funny way of deciding who should garner respect as a braves player
NCBravesFan
October 27th, 2010
4:04 pm
The problem I always saw with the Tex trade was not what the Braves gave up, but the mere fact that they needed a pitcher much more than they needed a hitter at that time. They traded some really nice prospects (obvious to all of us now) and didn’t address the core need of the franchise with the return.
For that reason, it probably would have been better not to have made the trade.
Robert Barron
October 27th, 2010
4:12 pm
Schuerholz should have been the one to have a problem with this trade. He knew Teixeira was a Boras’ client and after losing Wainwright, should not have wanted to take this kind of gamble as his last hoorah. Instead this will be known as his last boo-hiss.
Robert Barron
October 27th, 2010
4:16 pm
The Kotchman trade was also a bad trade.
Might as well have gotten our moneysworth on Teixieira.
I'm just sayin'
October 27th, 2010
4:17 pm
When you talk of bad moves the Braves have made, don’t ever forget BRETT BUTLER!!
The Grinch
October 27th, 2010
4:18 pm
Why wait until now to reconsider the trade for Tex? I thought it was a bum deal from the get-go.
The Grinch
October 27th, 2010
4:19 pm
Yes, remember the titans…
Lem (or lame) Barker
JD Drew
Tex
All bad.
Dawg Whisperer
October 27th, 2010
4:35 pm
I thought it was a bad deal from the beginning. I’m generally against trading away the team’s future for instant gratification that is only temporary. I think it was a lesson learned by the Braves organization.
Drummerdad
October 27th, 2010
4:50 pm
I think the Braves got the best year out of J.D. Drew of any of the teams he’s played for. I also think that a large part of that had to do with playing for Bobby and having to answer to Chipper when J.D. was inclined to bag because of this or that ailment. As for John Schuerholz’s trades, the trouble came with players that had Scott Boras as their agent. I don’t think JS and Boras saw eye to eye to say the least. Not sure when it started, but it seemed to be around Greg Maddux accepting arbitration when the Braves believed he wouldn’t. Then they had to trade Kevin Millwood to make room for Maddux.
I can’t agree with the earlier comment about JS being the worst GM in baseball history. I wonder what people inside baseball would say about a comment like that. whew…