ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -For now, Mark Teixeira is still with the Texas Rangers. That could easily change before next week’s trade deadline.
There appears to be plenty of interest from potential contenders for Teixeira, the 27-year-old switch-hitting slugger who has won two Gold Gloves at first base.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has repeatedly refused to discuss specifics of potential deals for Teixeira or any other players. But Daniels said there have been conversations with several clubs and that the frequency of phone calls has increased with a week remaining before the non-waiver trade deadline next Tuesday.
Teixeira, who will be eligible for salary arbitration after making $9 million this season, has refused to talk about the possibility of being traded.
“I’m done talking about it,” Teixeira said Tuesday before the Rangers played a doubleheader against Seattle, repeating what has become a daily response.
At the start of the eight-game homestand Thursday, when Teixeira played in Arlington for the first time since going on the disabled list June 9, he said he was focused on the game.
“I know there is a business side of baseball. There is a playing side of baseball, and that is what I’m going to concentrate on the last two months of the season,” he said last week. “Until someone tells me otherwise, I’m a Ranger. I love playing here.”
But Teixeira, the No. 5 overall pick as a third baseman out of Georgia Tech in 2001, has also expressed his desire to play for a winning team. The Rangers didn’t finish better than third in the AL West with only one winning record his first four seasons, and they’re in last place again this year.
Among the teams reportedly interested in Teixeira are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta and Boston. The New York Yankees, Baltimore and San Francisco have also been mentioned.
Any team that acquires Teixeira would get more than a rent-a-player for the rest of this season. While Teixeira will be eligible for salary arbitration, he can’t become a free agent until after 2008.
Only Ralph Kiner, Albert Pujols and Eddie Mathews hit more than the 140 homers that Teixeira had in his first four major league seasons. He had at least 33 homers and 110 RBIs in each of the past three.
Teixeira went into Tuesday hitting .302 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs despite missing 27 games because of a strained left quadriceps muscle sustained running out a ground ball. The Rangers were 16-11 when he was out of the lineup after he played in a team record 507 consecutive games.
“If Mark is not here, we are going to miss him because of what he brings to the table. This guy is a great ballplayer and can make a difference in a game,” manager Ron Washington said Tuesday. “I don’t think you can ever say because we won when Mark wasn’t in the lineup that the team is better without him. This team is not better without him.
“My only statement to that is, we’ll adjust,” Washington said. “Because if Mark leaves here, we’re getting something for him. So we’ll adjust.”
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