Will A-Rod and Mark Teixeira get along as Yankee teammates? Peter Gammons says no

Would-be president of Red Sox Nation Peter Gammons caused some controversy this weekend with his comments on Boston radio station WEEI about the Mark Teixeira signing. He said:

As you probably remember, there was a lot of testiness between Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira when they played in Texas together . . . and I don't think Alex really cares about communicating with other players, we know [that] from Derek Jeter.

Actually, I never heard anything about the two of them having "testiness" in their one year together, when Mark was a rookie. The one issue between them was this, according to the New York Post:

Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees that offseason, and told ESPN Magazine he never would have signed with Texas if someone had said, "'Alex, it's going to be you and 24 kids.' Never. For no amount of money."

And Teixeira was openly offended by the comment, and said so in the media at the time.

However, I think Gammons is blowing up one argument from five years ago into a whole to-do. He seems openly bitter about the Yankees' Teixeira signing. And given that Gammons is supposed to be objective in his capacity at ESPN, that's a bit much. Take a look at what else he said on that radio show:

Teixeira is Scott Boras's ultimate client, and he's very well-programmed . . . The Red Sox didn't know it, and in the end there was nothing they could do about it. He wanted to go to the Yankees, his wife doesn't like Boston -- apparently she doesn't like the stores on Newbury Street or something -- and in the end that's the way it goes.

I know Gammons is well-respected around the game, but he shouldn't be well-respected for comments like these. He previously compared Boras to Sirhan Sirhan's lawyer, which was over the top.

And now he suggests that Teixeira is a robot, and that his wife is a vapid, shallow woman who chose New York over Boston because of the shopping. I'd like to hear the sourcing on that tidbit about how "apparently she doesn't like the stores on Newbury Street or something." It's a cheap shot, and Gammons should apologize for it.

Do you think A-Rod and Mark Teixeira will get along? And what do you think of Peter Gammons? Leave us a comment!

Red Sox Nation welcomes some new faces

I'm concerned. The Yankees may have signed C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, but the Boston Red Sox have countered with some stellar moves of their own. After all, they signed former Yankee Nick (It's Not Easy Being) Green, which sent a dagger through the heart of Yankeeland.

New Red Sox Rocco Baldelli may be perpetually injured, but his uncanny resemblance to Brian Cashman could confuse Yankee pitchers. Or maybe him being the first Boston player to wear No. 5 since Nomar Garciaparra will do the trick!

Speaking of perpetually injured players, the fact that lifelong Brave John Smoltz is going to Boston is a genuine shocker to Atlanta fans. And Squawker Jon will be happy to hear that former Met Tom Glavine has weighed in on the subject:

“I think as an athlete that’s been somewhere for a long time, it’s always difficult emotionally when you don’t feel like you’re getting the respect you deserve from your team,” Glavine said. “When somebody else steps in and shows you the love, so to speak, you kind of get that feeling of ‘Why doesn’t my team that I’ve been with for so long show this same kind of appreciation?’"

Jon, I blame you for not showing Glavine enough love as a Met!

Baldelli and Smoltz are not the only two injury-prone players Boston has gone after this year. They also picked up a not-so-shiny penny in Brad Penny, as well as signing Takashi Saito, who was also injured last season.

What's up with the Sox taking a chance on all these injured players? It's like the Yankees went shopping at Neiman-Marcus, while the Red Sox visited the Island of Misfit Toys. I'm just disappointed that Boston didn't add Carl Pavano to their toy chest.

What do you think of Boston's moves? Will they be competitive with the Yanks next year? Leave us a comment!

Squawker media alert: I will be on the radio today

Heads up: I will be squawking on Sound-Off With Sinkoff this Friday at 4:10 p.m. The show airs on Albany's ESPN 104.5 The Team. Click here to listen live to the show online. I'll be talking about Manny Ramirez, as well as the state of the Yankees.

Cleveland rocks - with Carl Pavano & Eric Mangini!

It hasn't been so great being a fan of the Mets and Jets lately, but it could be worse - I could be a Cleveland fan. First, the Indians, who not too long ago boasted CC Sabathia in their rotation, sign none other than Carl Pavano. The signing itself is not unreasonable - one year, $1.5 million guaranteed, with the possibility of earning $5.3M more in performance bonuses. But here's what Indians GM Mark Shapiro had to say about Pavano:

"I feel like we're getting him at the right time," Shapiro said. "He's very strong, in good shape now and extremely motivated. We thought he would benefit from a fresh start. It was a tough situation in New York and he was trying to justify the contract that he had."

So Shapiro has to explain to Indian fans that Pavano is in good shape now and, unlike when he was in pinstripes, Pavano promises to be "extremely motivated." As for being in a "tough situation in New York," well, who created that tough situation? Pavano!

Shapiro even guaranteed Pavano a sport in the rotation, though he did say it would be as long as Pavano was healthy following spring training. Good luck with that!

*

At one point during the 1994 season, the Philadelphia Eagles were 7-2. But the Eagles collapsed down the stretch, losing their last seven games. and coach Rich Kotite was fired. While other organizations were not exactly lining up at Kotite's door, one owner, the Jets' Leon Hess, saw a chance to hire a coach with experience who had made the playoffs two years earlier. Jet fans know all too well how that turned out.

At one point during the 2008 season, the Jets were 8-3. But they collapsed down the stretch, losing four of their last five (and should have lost the Buffalo game as well) and coach Eric Mangini was fired. While other organizations were not exactly lining up at Mangini's door, one owner, Cleveland's Randy Lerner, saw a chance to hire a coach with experience who had made the playoffs two years earlier.

Time will tell if the Browns made the right move. After all, Pete Carroll, the young coach the Jets replaced with Kotite, has gone on to have a highly successful coaching career. And it was only a few months ago that the Jets couldn't wait to get rid of Chad Pennington.

But as of now, I think the best ex-New Yorker Cleveland has acquired so far this offseason is the one player in the J.J. Putz trade I didn't want to see go - Joe Smith.

What should Mark Teixeira's home run call be?

Now that Mark Teixeira is officially a Yankee, it's time to figure out something important. No, not where he should bat in the lineup, but what John Sterling's home run call should be for him!

Here are some suggestions:

• Tex wrecks it!
• Teix-share and share alike!
• Look-a there-a - it's Mark Teixeira!
• That was no M.T. hit - he got all of it!
• The Tex-Bino!
  

Are these cringe-inducing? Of course. But let's bear in mind that Sterling is the person who came up with the "Robbie Cano, don'tcha know" and "You can bet on Betemit!" calls.

Of course, I'm not the first Yankee blogger to try to come up with Sterling's Teixeira call. The Yankee fan blog Scott Proctor's Arm wrote these suggestions for the broadcaster:

On the Mark
Tex Marks the spot
Mark it down

And as Wikipedia notes in its entry for Sterling:

One of his signature radio remarks is his home run call "It is high, it is far, it is gone!" Sterling usually follows with one of his patented player nicknames, which have become well-known to the extent that new ones can be highly anticipated:^[15]

And guess which source the person used for that tidbit?:

^ Swan, Lisa; John Lewin (July 29, 2008). Let's come up with a home run call for Xavier Nady", New York Daily News. Retrieved on 4 August 2008.

Whoo-hoo! We made it into Wikipedia! True, they misspelled Squawker Jon's name, but still!

Also, back in 2007, we made it into Deadspin when I tried to come up with Sterling's home run call for Shelley Duncan. Speaking of which, Duncan was designated for assignment yesterday. No word on whether Sterling will come up with a DFA call for him.

What do you think? Do you have any home run calls of your own? Leave us a comment!

Tacky day for Brian Cashman

I wanted to watch the Mark Teixeira news conference about as much as seeing a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" type of show in which some zillionaire explains that he's going to put his new Rembrandt in the bathroom so it doesn't conflict with all his other treasures. But I did end up putting it on, just in time to see Brian Cashman explain how the Yankees switched gears to pursue the power hitter:

Our biggest need was to improve our pitching, but to use a sailing term, we might have tacked a little bit off the game plan.

When Cashman started using sailing terms, it occurred to me that the Yankees could have found a way to make yet another big-signing presser more interesting. They should have introduced Teixeira on a yacht. Put everyone in tuxedoes. Don't just talk about the carving board - show it, along with caviar and lobster.

I'd rather see the Yankees embrace being the big-money team, as it sounds like they will be doing with the new stadium, than have Cashman pretend they are no different than other teams. After the presser, Cashman went so far as to say that the Yankees, just like everyone else, were cutting payroll, and were now down about 15 or 20 million dollars from last year.

First of all, considering what last year's payroll was, this is like doctors congratulating a morbidly obese man because he's gone from 700 pounds all the way down to 600.

Then again, maybe it isn't, because the obese man will continue to try to lose weight, while the Yankees already have a $10M offer out to Andy Pettitte, and if that doesn't work out, who will be surprised if that sort of money or more goes to a different free agent. So the Yankees are likely to end up with the same payroll as last year. Or more - I seem to remember Cashman boasting about keeping the payroll down in 2007 when the season began before dropping $20 million on part-timer Roger Clemens.

My favorite thing Cashman did was when he momentarily forgot to introduce Joe Girardi and went straight to Teixeira. I wonder how long Girardi gets if the Yankees don't get off to a good start with their star-studded team.

As for Teixeira, it does look like he really wanted to be a Yankee. At least we didn't hear about any opt-out clauses in his contract.

As for the Mets, I hope there is some good news to report on them soon. As long as the Yankees don't have Pettitte in the fold, I fear they jump to the head of the line for the likes of Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez.

It will be bad enough if the Mets end up getting shut out on both Lowe and Perez. But then they at least should be able to spend money to spend on a corner outfielder, as long as they don't wait too long and see all of the good outfielders disappear as well. If the Mets end up filling their holes with the likes of Randy Wolf and Cliff Floyd, maybe they should hold that news conference on Lisa's Staten Island Ferry.

Mark Teixeira meets the press

So it's official - Mark Teixeira is a Yankee. Mike Francesa was very negative about the press conference, but I enjoyed watching it. Like Michael Kay kept on saying, Teixeira actually looks happy to be a Yank. (Randy Johnson would win the "least happy to be a Yankee" contest!)

I was thinking of having five people introduce the next person before getting to my squawk, like at today's presser, but since Squawker Jon boycotted watching the press conference, I decided against it. So I'll have to go solo with my observations:

* I thought Mark was confident with the press, but seemed sincere, and not slick. He came off as a very likeable guy.

* Mark said something about having decided weeks before to be a Yankee. So it sounds like he did toy with the Red Sox after all. Gotta love it!

* When the microphone went crazy when Brian Cashman was talking, I half-expected a reaction shot of Scott Boras saying "sign Manny or else" to Cash.

* Mark said more than once that signing with the Yankees was a "no-brainer," to which I could imagine Yankee-haters' reaction of "no kidding" to that one!

* Hal Steinbrenner looks like his father, but with Tucker Carlson's hair.

* Boras looks like Tom DeLay.

* And Teixeira? Who does he look like? It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't think of who it is.

* I guess No. 25 won't be retired for Jason Giambi, after all!

* Besides being a great hitter, and the best glove the Yanks have had at first since Tino Martinez, Teixeira seems like he will fit in well with the Yankee way.

* Loved hearing Teixeira gush wearing a Yankee cap and rooting for Don Mattingly while Teix was growing up in Baltimore.

How many days is it until pitchers and catchers? I can't wait!

What did you think of the Mark Teixeira press conference? Leave us a comment!

Yankees should throw Andy Pettitte a bone

Yikes! While we wait for the big Mark Teixeira press conference today, there is other news out of Yankeeland, and it's not good for Andy Pettitte fans. According to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, Pettitte is saying no to the Yankees' $10 million, one-year offer.

Even though the Yankees went on a shopping spree for the ages this winter, they apparently are treating Andy Pettitte like something they found at the dollar store. Then again, Pettitte was all "I want to be a Yankee for life no matter what," so he shouldn't be surprised that they are trying to nickel and dime him.

Should Pettitte have to get a pay cut from his $16 million salary from last year? Absolutely, given his lousy second half - not to mention the Mitchell Report. But it makes no sense for the Yanks not to budge on the $10 million offer. While Brian Cashman did fly down to Houston to talk to Andy, one would hope he would dig through the Yankee couch cushions and dig up another million or two for Pettitte.

If the Yanks do offer Andy, say, $12 million, and he still turns it down, then shame on him. But given that they are paying A.J. Burnett $16.5 million a year, I don't think it's unreasonable for Pettitte to want the Yanks to upgrade their offer a little.

It's funny - Pettitte was front and center with all the Yankee Stadium closing ceremony stuff, with all the other "four rings" teammates. Yet the Yanks appear to be thisclose to cutting ties with him for the second time in five years. Unreal.

What do you think about Andy Pettitte? Leave us a comment.

Last chance to enter our DVD contest

The deadline for entering our Subway Squawkers DVD giveaway is just a few hours away - noon today, to be exact - so get your entries ready. Click here for details on how you can win a copy of the short film "Gandhi at the Bat," a mock newsreel about the little-known (and totally fictional) incident when Mahatma Gandhi pinch hit for the Yankees in 1933.

Mets can't let both of Boras' pitchers get away Scott free

Nobody thought that Mark Teixeira would be a Yankee until it happened. Could Brian Cashman's next stealth signing be Oliver Perez? I certainly hope not, but Kevin Kernan makes the case that the Yankees are better off with Perez than with Andy Pettitte.

Kernan's recommendation of Perez to the Yanks comes alongside his recommendation that the Mets ante up for Derek Lowe. Unfortunately, we know how this situation is likely to play out. The Mets will be outbid for Lowe (worst-case scenario - the Phillies) while the Yankees will swoop in and take the only other good free-agent starter on the market.

I am probably in the minority of Met fans in that I want Perez as much or more than Lowe. Perez is 27, a lefty, has shown he can pitch well in New York and has enormous upside. And these were exactly the reasons I figured the Yankees would jump on him once Perez became a free agent.

So far, though, nobody has shown much interest in Perez. Presumably, teams are waiting for Boras to lower the price. And maybe, just like with Teixeira, the first time the Yankees will publicly show interest is when they announce they have signed Perez.

Ollie's career record against the Yankees:
Starts: 6
Innings: 41.1
W-L: 5-1
ERA: 2.61
Batting average against: .199
WHIP: 1.11

Derek Lowe has also shown he can pitch in big games in big markets, and he's had a chance to pitch in bigger games than Ollie has. And while there's a Good Ollie and a Bad Ollie, there's no such split with Lowe (just the occasional Derek Lowe face). If I had to choose between Lowe or Perez in a big game, I would have to go with Lowe.

But as long as we are talking upside, I think Perez is worth the same sort of offer the Mets have given Lowe. Neither may be enough for a Boras client, but the Mets should at least try.

And even if Ollie has had mixed results, check out his record against the Phillies in their championship year of 2008:

Starts: 4
Innings: 26
W-L: 1-0
ERA: 0.35
Batting average against: .181
WHIP: 1.08

Pretty good for the guy nobody seems to want.

Here's my biggest nightmare: The Phillies (or Braves) sign Lowe. Then, when attention turns to Perez, the Yankees swoop in. Desperate to make a splash, Omar Minaya signs the pitcher the Yankees didn't want - Andy Pettitte. And the Mets find out why the Yankees didn't want him.

Do you want Oliver Perez back on the Mets? Tell us what you think.