Sure, he would have made the Orioles more competitive, but even you know deep in your heart that one player wasn't going to change the balance of power in the American League East. This was more about Peter Angelos showing you the money and Teixeira showing that playing at home was more important than that. In the end, Angelos apparently was willing - though a lot of Orioles fans will never believe it - but Teixeira was not willing to risk his competitive future on a rebuilding plan that is still in its early stages.
Give him some credit. He didn't toy with you. Boras never pushed the Orioles to make the market. In fact, he apparently did just the opposite, keeping MacPhail at arm's length even as the O's attempted to remain a factor in the bidding.
No doubt, Teixeira is going to be portrayed by a lot of people around here as a guy who just wanted the last dollar, and it's fair to assume that every star-quality player who employs Boras as his agent is looking to maximize his economic potential without apology. It's never as simple as that, but Teixeira held out for a giant contract from the richest team in baseball and will have to live with the perception here that he is more Alex Rodriguez than Ripken.
The Orioles have earned your wrath, too, though not necessarily because of the way MacPhail handled this negotiation. They didn't lose Teixeira because they didn't offer enough money - though I suppose there was a number he could not have turned down. The Orioles lost Teixeira while he was still playing college ball at Georgia Tech. They lost him with a string of 11 losing seasons that transformed Oriole Park from the place where everyone wanted to be on a summer night in the 1990s to the place where it seems like nobody wants to be unless the Yankees and Red Sox are in town.
If you're going to point fingers, point them in the right direction. MacPhail did not preside over that decade of disaster. He's the guy trying to turn things around against overwhelming odds that have gotten even more overwhelming in the wake of the Yankees' $423.5 million free-agent spending spree. Now he'll go back to the original plan and keep trying to build this team from the bottom up, but the competitive landscape has changed so much over the past few months that he's got to be wondering whether it's even worth the effort.
You're wondering the same thing. You're wondering whether you can ever really trust anyone again.
You'll get over it.
Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) at noon most Fridays and Saturdays.
