The Teixeira Trade – Time to Move on Folks

May 10, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Neftali Feliz (30) throws a pitch in the ninth inning of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

But We Gave Up So Much In The Trade

The complete trade was Neftali Feliz, Beau Jones, Saltalamacchia, Matt Harrison and Elvis Andrus for Tex and Mahay. Why send so much? Here’s he sort version for those who don’t want details. The long form is at the bottom of the post for those that do.

• Tex wasn’t going to be cheap, gold glove power hitting first basemen are rare. He was never going to be cheap but considering the 2007 value it wasn’t robbery.
• Salty was blocked by McCann and not projected as an everyday player for the Braves. He had a few big hits, catchers are always in demand so his value was at its peak.
• Feliz and Jones  were very young, 18 and 20 respectively. The feeling was that the Braves had equivalent talent in the system. Feliz was three years away from Atlanta and Jones at least that. Neither was a rated prospect to begin 2007.
• Harrison had been in the system since 2003 and never been projected better than a three or four starter starter for the Braves. The Braves felt that by the time he was ready – if he ever was ready – they had better prospects in the system. They were right.
• Elvis Andrus was three years away from the Braves and was blocked by a young Cuban infielder you may remember; Yunel Escobar. Escobar’s successful debut in 2007 .326/.385/.451, 5 homers, 28 RBI, and an rWAR of 2.9 made Andrus expendable. He was in fact 6th on Rookie of the Year voting in 2007 and had outstanding years in 2008-09 before slumping for whatever reason in 2010 and being traded.

Trades have to be seen at the time as benefiting both teams and being a fair value. While some moaned at the time, the deal turned out to be fair.

•  Feliz was still being groomed as a starter might not have been ready for the 2010 rotation. At the same time Feliz hit the majors we had this young man named Jonny Venters arriving.
• Time has shown Harrison very replaceable within our system. He was chosen in the same draft as Venters. We still had Venters, would you rather have had Harrison?
• Escobar was everything Andrus projected to be and more but three years sooner. Although not a base stealer he hit for a lot more power, drove in runs and was arguably a better shortstop, though there’s room for disagreement there. If not for the disconnect between Escobar and the Braves last year, few would moan over the loss of Andrus at all.
• Beau Jones is still in AAA ball and may never see the majors,
• Salty is with the Red Sox after a lot of bouncing around, hits about .220 and isn’t really an everyday catcher yet. We maximized his value.

One can easily – and correctly in my opinion – argue that the trade of Tex to the Angels in 2008 was the mistake.