When the Angels traded for Teixeira, parting with first baseman Casey Kotchman and right-hander Steve Marek, they knew he would probably be just a rental -- he was two months shy of free agency and he would cost a fortune to re-sign.
But after winning three of the last four American League West titles, then going 4-12 in the playoffs, adding Teixeira's bat would be worth the gamble if he took the Angels deep in the postseason.
It didn't work out that way, of course, with the Angels bowing out in the division series again, even though Teixeira hit a team-best .467 in his first postseason series. The team then made a franchise-record $160-million pitch to keep him, only to see the Yankees offer eight years and $180 million, the richest free-agent contract of the winter.
"Last year, just having Tex in the lineup . . . he was a threat," said the Angels' Torii Hunter, who spurned the Minnesota Twins after 11 seasons to sign a lucrative free-agent contract with the Angels before the 2008 season. "Guys know when they're free agents they get to shop around. We kind of understand. We would have loved to have him back. But at the same time he has to make his own decision that's good for him and his family."
But for Teixeira, all wasn't well at first in New York. Closer-to-home cooking didn't help much in his first six weeks as a Yankee, with the switch-hitter batting only .191 with 17 RBIs after 29 games. He has been on a tear since then, though, hitting .313 and driving in 46 runs, leaving him fifth in the American League with 63 RBIs entering the final weekend before the All-Star break. And when he homered Thursday in Minnesota, it not only ended a 23-game, 96 at-bat home run drought, but it moved him into a tie for second in the league with 21.
Once Teixeira heated up, so did the Yankees, going from two games under .500 to 36-17 in their last 53 games, winning 13 of their last 15 and nine in a row on the road.
"He's some kind of player," pitcher Brett Tomko said. "To see him every day has been pleasantly surprising. He's a tremendous player. He's the total package. He's a tremendous fielder and a tremendous presence in the middle of the lineup."
Which is why fans voted him into the AL's starting lineup at first base for next week's All-Star game. That's not likely to win him much of a place in Yankees lore, though, something he understood before deciding to move east.
