Also keep in mind the Jan 1st deadline to avoid new tax rates under the new president.

Peter Gammons just said on SportsCenter that "Angelos doesn't have any interest in making Teixeira the face of the franchise". Karl Ravech says on the ESPN front page that Mark has "an enormous attraction to the Orioles."

Which is more accurate?

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Pete's reply: At the risk of being accused of being negative, I would lean toward Gammons.

i think it's between the orioles and red sox. the nats are being used to raise the price up. i think it comes down to does tex really want to take a lot of money play for the hometown team despite they probably won't contend for 2 or 3 yrs at best or take a lot of money and play for a team who can win every year. how much does playing for his boyhood team mean to him.

Pete...you're doing this town a great service with your blog! We are all holding out hope beyond hope that our hometown man TEX decides he wants to be a hometown hero and not just another sell out dollar chaser to MLB's "elite...i.e. money throwers". I truly feel like he would be a major draw not only for fans in the stands, but almost as importantly to future free agents and the likes of Markakis/Roberts extensions. Thanks again!

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Pete's reply: No. Thank you for being a part of this, and thanks to Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly for their regular input.

Hey Pete, I was just wondering. I read the Olney article about Tex, and I want Tex, but not for a price that could stop the O's from signing Markakis, Jones, Guthre, Wieters, and our 3 young studs coming up to the pitching staff in the next few years. I mean, could a Tex deal actually hurt us in the long run?

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Pete's reply: Only if he gets hurt or forgets how to hit. They've dropped the payroll considerably over the past couple of years. They can afford to sign Tex, Markakis and Roberts if they want.

Pete I told you a couple of days ago that my information from Boston was that he did not want to sign a Long-term contract in Boston nor did he want to play on the West Coast, That leaves the O's and the Nats and nobody is going to sign a long-term deal with the Nats. As long as the O's are within an acceptable range Tex is coming home to the Yard. For a change Boston and New York are being used to drive up the price. Tex being an Oriole is a done deal, you are listening to the wrong people.

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Pete's reply: I think I speak for everyone on the blog when I say, we're looking forward to you gloating about how smart and tied in you are when it happens.

Now Gammons says on ESPN that its going to be Boston. Don't Ravech and Gammons talk to each other? When will this ever end!

I hate to get my hopes up, but the Wal-Mart of sports entertainment is really putting alot of stock in the "close-to-home" ties. I feel this is going to happen. This may be one of thse instances where Boras greedy self-serving motives take a back seat to the player's gut feeling. Now, a contingency plan involving Dunn would be great, but I really think it's time to put all the eggs in the Tex basket. And then move onto Looper and Redding. I watched Redding all year and he was more than adequate. He had absolutley no run support and could easily win 12 games with our offense heavy squad. Pete, do you know of any feelers being put out in regards to Redding?

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Pete's reply: Yes, I've posted two items about Redding in the last few hours.

I thought there was some new tax stuff that was supposed to go into place next year. Something that would affect players bonuses or something. I don't pay close attention to that stuff.

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Pete's reply: There was some talk among agents that they might sign players sooner to avoid a supposed Obama tax increase on the rich. Obama has since said he probably will delay any action on that until the economy recovers, so I don't know that it's a big deal.

Pete,

First off, do you ever sleep?

I think Mr. Angelos has made up his mind that the Orioles NEED Tex. He will do whatever it takes to get him and salvage his reputation with the fans of Baltimore. Let's not forget- Mr. A brought us Raffy, Bobby Bo, Robby A., and Mike Bordick. He's not afraid to spend money on the right guy. He knows Tex is the right guy. By the time Tex is done here, people will forget all about that .276 hitting SS - old what's his name. Welcome home, Mark...

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Pete's reply: To answer your first question, I've got a terrible cold and have not been able to sleep much. so I'm grateful to the blog and to you readers for giving me something interesting to do all night.

the sooner scott boras gets out of being agent for the players the better it will be for baseball. i hope i am not too far into dream land on this.i believe he is a menace to baseball. all boras is waiting for now is to see which team blinks first, red sox or yankees

Whether or not Tex ends up an Oriole, if he has any desire to be an immortal for a particular team, he should be considering becoming an Oriole. He'll never be Ted Williams in Boston. He'll never be [insert prototypical Angel's name here] in Los Angeles. He'll certainly never be Mantle, Dimaggio, Jeter, et al. in New York. But in Baltimore, he could be "that guy," the hometown legend who is a role model, and if he wins a World Series with us, well, he would never pay for a meal in this town again. Not that it will matter much when he's wearing a cap with a "B" on it next season, but if he is as much a tradition-oriented fellow as they say, he should be thinking about that since money cannot buy baseball immortality.

I recently received my bill for next year's O's season tickets. I do not see any discount or reduction in ticket prices, AGAIN. Tex is a first class person and awesome baseball player. He is the right person to invest the money in.

Pete,

I read those tidbits, and it made me smile. MacPhail is truly a duck on a pond-calm above water, but paddling away all the while. I think Redding would be a stabilizing force in the back of the rotation and a vet that can guide our young guns. I think Guthrie, Looper, and Redding (if Tex signs) could vault us to .500! If we luck out, Tex will be at 1st, so Huff will DH & spell Mora at 3rd and that leaves the door open for Luke and Freel to platoon in LF. This negates the Scott to DH primarily scenario does it not?

A lot of hypotheticals, I know. But not too far fetched. Any comments?

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Pete's reply: If they sign Tex, all the rest of the hypotheticals might fall in place. If not, they're probably not going to replicate last year's offensive performance and the pitching situation remains very sketchy.

Does Jeff V. think he will get all of the money in one lump sum? He earns the money as he plays, so signing before Jan 1st doesn't really matter.

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Pete's reply: Jeff V was referring to a story a couple of months ago where some agents were considering asking for giant signing bonuses and lower salaries before Jan. 1 to avoid some of the projected Obama tax increase on the wealthy.

"I feel this is going to happen. This may be one of thse instances where Boras greedy self-serving motives take a back seat to the player's gut feeling."

When was another of those instances? Boras only comprehends one thing when it comes to getting a player he represents signed and that would be the salary issue. If ball were played on Pluto and the Plutonians offered Teixeira the most money... Tex would be on the next shuttle.
Boras taking a back seat to anything is laughable....
Sorry to be such a pessimist, but I've been an Orioles fan for a loooooooong time.

In response to I survived 1988 who posted: "I recently received my bill for next year's O's season tickets. I do not see any discount or reduction in ticket prices, AGAIN."

I received one invoice that showed a credit for tickets I hadn't used in 2008. Then I get a phone call from a rep telling me to disregard that invoice, a new one was coming. (I thought, great, they're taking away my credit) Sure enough, when I received the new invoice, no credit. I just owe what someone new to season plans would pay.

Naturally, I was pretty annoyed, especially since neither the phone call nor the new invoice included an explanation or an apology. This sure didn't seem like a great way to keep loyal season plan holders.

So, I did what sensible pissed off people do. I wrote the "Account Executive" Barry Bingaman and whoever might be higher up than him a letter explaining my grievance and stating that if EVERY season plan holder doesn't get a credit for unused 2008 tickets, then I don't want individual special treatment and I will not be renewing my season plan.

I have to admit, if the O's manage to sign Tex, I might have to reconsider...

What I don't understand is why every club appears to be trying to make a long term security type deal. There does not appear to be a single high dollar short term deal offered anywhere.

In the real world, there is a tradeoff between compensation and security and to ignore this appears to me to be lunacy.

I'd like to see the club offer a high dollar three year deal. This limits the exposure of the club to a long term mistake in an unstable economy and provides the player with a very large salary for a shorter commitment on his part and would allow him to do it again relatively soon when he is is in his prime.