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Thread: NUMBER NINE....NUMB ER NINE....NUMBER NINE

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    Director of Minor League Reports rico43's Avatar
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    NUMBER NINE....NUMB ER NINE....NUMBER NINE



    Mark Teixeira


    #9 in a series: 10 Darkest Days in Atlanta Braves history
    JOHN SCHUERHOLZ'S EPIC FAIL
    JULY 31, 2007


    During a promising 2007 season, the Atlanta Braves, to a man, wanted to taste the high life one more time, and the opportunity seemed to present itself in a major way as the 2007 trade deadline approached.

    But going into their game of July 29, the Braves had slipped to a 54-51 record, 4.5 games back, after back-to-back extra inning walkoff losses to Arizona. But a 14-0 win followed by a day off set the stage for a blockbuster, an announcement that rocked Braves fandom and one of the biggest deals in Atlanta's long history and the tenure of general manager John Schuerholz.

    The Braves, willingly and without question, mortgaged their immediate future to acquire all-star first baseman Mark Teixeira (a Georgia Tech all-American once upon a time) from the Texas Rangers. Scheduled to become a free agent in 2008, Teixeira had already turned down a contract extension that would pay him $140 million over the next eight seasons – giving the Braves a perfectly clear understanding that there was no way in hell they could afford to sign him to an extension. But they craved his bat. But Schuerholz had to come to terms with boy wonder general manager Jon Daniels, who at age 28, had become the youngest g.m. in history when he replaced John Hart (yes, that John Hart), who voluntarily moved upstairs.

    Realizing that he had Braves g.m. John Schuerholz over a barrel, Daniels, now 30, did not give an inch in negotiations, rebuffing the Braves' attempt to add pitcher C.J. Wilson to the deal. When the dust settled, the Rangers picked up catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop Elvis Andrus, lefties Matt Harrison and Beau Jones and flame throwing reliever Neftali Feliz – the Braves' No. 1, 2, 3, 14 and 18 rated prospects, according to Baseball America, with teen shortstop Andrus the best of the bunch.

    Teixeira actually delivered the goods, unlike past panic trades by the Braves (see Barker, Len). In the final 54 games of 2007, he batted .317 with 17 home runs and 56 RBIs to give him 30 homers and 105 RBIs for the season. But the remaining Braves did not match his output and the team never got closer than 2.5 games of the division winning Phillies, finishing 84-78, five games out, in third place. They were 28-27 from August 1st on.

    The disappointment continued into the 2008 season. Teixeira, destined to test the free agent market, was making a case for himself in spacious Turner Field, hitting .283-20-78 in 103 games. But the club placed around him was a disaster; exactly one year after they'd decided to trade for Teixeira, the Braves were 49-58 and nine games out of the lead. Schuerholz, promoted to club president in the off-season, and new GM Frank Wren compounded the disaster by trading Teixeira to the AL's best team, the Angels, for Casey Kotchman. He also played first base, but the similarities ended there. A good glove man once upon a time, he was square peg in a round hole with the Braves. Add to that, his mother's illness led to his taking a leave of absence late in the 2008 campaign. They signed him to a new deal (one year, 2.885 million), but was eventually moved to the Red Sox as the Braves reacquired old friend Adam LaRoche at the trade deadline.

    The rest of the story: Teixeira was a huge boost for the Angels' pennant run, batting .358-13-43 over the final 54 games of the 2008 season (32-22) as the Angels won 100 games, then hit .467 in the AL Division Series that the Angels lost to Boston. He then signed with the Yankees for a then-mind-boggling $180 million over eight years.

    Of the five players the Braves traded to the Rangers, Salty (as of 2016) has gone on to enjoy a nine-year MLB career; Andrus has been a two-time all-star in his seven-year career; Harrison was derailed by serious back problems after being named an all-star in 2012, but has put in parts of eight MLB seasons for the Rangers (50-35); and Feliz was a 2010 all-star (40 saves) and has pitched seven seasons for the Rangers and Tigers. Beau Jones was the only true washout in the deal, failing to reach the majors and last playing in 2012. Total haul: four all-star designations and 31 combined MLB seasons.

    The Rangers were American League champions in 2010 and 2011. Jon Daniels remains general manager and has since been named president of baseball operations.

    Matt Harrison
    Elvis Andrus
    Neftali Feliz
    Jerrod Saltalamacchia
    Beau Jones
    Last edited by CyYoung31; 04-18-2016 at 11:42 PM.

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    Mr. Free Trade
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    Shift Leader CyYoung31's Avatar
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    People should remember this trade when they want to demonize Wren for "destroying our farm".


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    This was the rare double Epic fail. If we had kept the Tex instead of trading him for hot garbage(I actually liked Kotchman) then we would have had the compensation pick the Angels used on Mike Trout. If we had taken Trout with that pick this trade would be on the top 10 brightest days in braves history. Imagine a world with Justin Upton in left, Mike Trout in center, and Jason Heywood in right. No Melvin Upton in sight.
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    He was a Boras client. We had no shot at resigning him. Terrible move.

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    Did Stephen Marek even pitch a Major League game for us?

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    Quote Originally Posted by cajunrevenge View Post
    This was the rare double Epic fail. If we had kept the Tex instead of trading him for hot garbage(I actually liked Kotchman) then we would have had the compensation pick the Angels used on Mike Trout. If we had taken Trout with that pick this trade would be on the top 10 brightest days in braves history. Imagine a world with Justin Upton in left, Mike Trout in center, and Jason Heywood in right. No Melvin Upton in sight.
    Yeah, having a first rounder to show for it would have made the trade better. Maybe not a good trade but not a disaster. Wren dealing Tex for garbage is what really turned this trade from overpaying to a complete disaster.

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    It's OVER 5,000! striker42's Avatar
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    IIRC, Tyler Scaggs was also picked with the second Tex compensation pick for the Angels. That was a huge trade for them.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CyYoung31 View Post
    Did Stephen Marek even pitch a Major League game for us?
    No. Arm injury.

    No sugar-coating this deal, but it does need to be pointed out that Teixeira has been--and still is--a fairly special player.

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    Expects Yuge Games nsacpi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mossy View Post
    He was a Boras client. We had no shot at resigning him. Terrible move.
    Did the FO delude themselves on that? I suspect not. Spin.

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    Thanks Rico for these stories. Well done and appreciated.

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    What really baffled me at the moment, is what sane baseball person thought that we we're a legit contender to win a World Series with the pitching staff and the garbage we ran out there that year. We needed arms, not another hitter. I know, I know, we we're going to outscore teams....but that rarely works especially in pennant and postseason baseball.

    Just one other thing that knaws at me about this era, is just how much better would Chipper's production have been if he had legit protection during this era with the likes of Teixera, or being able to keep a Sheffield or a JD Drew to go along with Andruw. Another 10-15 million per year in our budget would have been huge, then again I'm not so sure that JS would have spent it wisely anyway.

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    Director of Minor League Reports rico43's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Millwood1Hitter View Post
    What really baffled me at the moment, is what sane baseball person thought that we we're a legit contender to win a World Series with the pitching staff and the garbage we ran out there that year. We needed arms, not another hitter. I know, I know, we we're going to outscore teams....but that rarely works especially in pennant and postseason baseball.

    Just one other thing that knaws at me about this era, is just how much better would Chipper's production have been if he had legit protection during this era with the likes of Teixera, or being able to keep a Sheffield or a JD Drew to go along with Andruw. Another 10-15 million per year in our budget would have been huge, then again I'm not so sure that JS would have spent it wisely anyway.
    Why at the time it really griped me that Schuerholz caved without acquiring C.J. Wilson. Simply put, he blinked first in a battle of wits with a 30-year-old novice g.m. Daniels faced the same dilemma -- losing Tex for only a draft pick. It showed both arrogance and a clear understanding of the panic the Braves felt to hang onto Wilson, who was at the time was an erratic closer-in-waiting. It wasn't until he became a starter than he earned a pair of all-star nods. It would have made it a sensational, equitable deal.
    Last edited by rico43; 04-19-2016 at 10:40 AM.

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    Called Up to the Major Leagues SJ24's Avatar
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    I was 15 when this deal happened and remember being upset that our young hotshots Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz were traded.

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    Quote Originally Posted by striker42 View Post
    Yeah, having a first rounder to show for it would have made the trade better. Maybe not a good trade but not a disaster. Wren dealing Tex for garbage is what really turned this trade from overpaying to a complete disaster.
    This. Wren doesn't get let off the hook here. While there's no way our return for Tex would have matched what we gave up, we absolutely could have gotten some serious talent, but instead we decided we had to have a major-league 1B in return for some dumb reason, and we ended up with Casey freaking Kotchman.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SJ24 View Post
    I was 15 when this deal happened and remember being upset that our young hotshots Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz were traded.
    This was definitely the beginning of the destruction of the farm system. At the time, we had a good farm that could continue to sustain years of success down the road. After this deal and the Kotchman deal that followed, we started making all of our moves for the sole purpose of adding pieces to the major-league roster and drafting guys with the highest chance of becoming major leaguers, even if their ceiling was very low. This is what led to us looking up 7 years later with a joke of a farm system.

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    Swallowed by Mark Bowman
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    The 2007 game that always comes to mind is this August 2 game against a pretty crummy Houston team. We had a nice, comfy four-run lead going into the eighth inning, cruising toward a fourth straight win, we were something like a game and a half out of the wild card, and then Soriano gave up a grand slam to Mike Lamb and we ended up losing in 14 innings (though not until after Matt Diaz hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th to drive in Corky Miller and tie the game). Seemed like everything kind of fell apart after that.

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    Quote Originally Posted by smootness View Post
    This was definitely the beginning of the destruction of the farm system. At the time, we had a good farm that could continue to sustain years of success down the road. After this deal and the Kotchman deal that followed, we started making all of our moves for the sole purpose of adding pieces to the major-league roster and drafting guys with the highest chance of becoming major leaguers, even if their ceiling was very low. This is what led to us looking up 7 years later with a joke of a farm system.
    I mean, JS destroyed our farm system, but we built it up again by mid-2009 with some pretty good present-day major leaguers.

    Heyward, Freeman, Teheran, Vizcaino, Gattis, Schafer, Morton, Locke, Kimbrel, Venters, Simmons, Minor, Medlen, Hanson just off the top of my head.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CyYoung31 View Post
    People should remember this trade when they want to demonize Wren for "destroying our farm".

    But the farm was still one of the best in baseball even after the 1st Tex trade.

    Feature names:


    Heyward, Freeman, Hanson, Schafer, Devine, Medlen, Locke, Teheran, Lillbridge, and Flowers. And those are just in their top 25 pre-2008.
    Last edited by Carp; 04-19-2016 at 01:50 PM.

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