Alex Rodriguez’s $27.5 annual luxury tax hit is a huge lesson in opportunity costs as the Yankees try to get to the magical $189 million mark. His contract is often cited as the poison that pollutes the payroll.
However, Arod isn’t the only player not living up to yearly paycheck, and his contract isn’t the only one the Yankees wish they could rip up. There’s another player who also meets the description of Huge Contract / Not Huge Production, and that’s Mark Teixeira.
At 8 years / $180 million, Teixeira’s annual hit to the luxury tax number is $22.5 million. After a superb first season with the Yankees, his offense has declined in each of the last 3 seasons. In fact, his 2012 was his worst season since his rookie year in 2003 (2012: .251/.332/.475).
Everyone has speculated about Teixeira. In 2011, we asked if he’d “Yankee Stadium’d” his left-handed swing. At the beginning of last season, we asked if the shift was ruining his life, resulting in much lower BABIPs.
Teixeira may look like a horse, but he’s certainly not been the equine the Yankees thought he would be.
wOBA
2009: .402
2010: .369
2011: .361
2012: .341
BABIP (The shift??)
2009: .302
2010: .268
2011: .239
2012: .250
OPS
2009: .948
2010: .846
2011: .835
2012: .807
OPS vs. RHP (batting left-handed)
2009: .951
2010: .799
2011: .779
2012: .770
“Just keep doing what you’re doing, Mark.”
24 Comments
HAHAHA November 11, 2012 19:39
At least he is in the upper echelon of defensive first baseman… could never even begin to say that about Arod at third
Killer Clown November 11, 2012 22:59
Yeah but you can say that about Adam Larouche too.
Adam LaRoche November 12, 2012 01:21
At least spell my name right
Ughhhh November 11, 2012 20:49
Man this team needs to man the fuck up and start doing the right thing no matter how tough.
Inquiring Mind November 11, 2012 22:38
the point of this post was…
Killer Clown November 11, 2012 22:58
To weed out the complaining assholes. Hey guys, we can ignore this jerk from now on.
Inquiring Mind November 12, 2012 03:20
Dear Killer Clown maybe you can tell us the point? All I’m reading is that Mark Tex is in decline & his contract is bad.
oh & he had a great 2009.
Little Jerry Seinfeld November 12, 2012 08:16
Is it that difficult to understand? The Yankees need to get to $189 million, and Arod (whose contract everyone bashes) plus Teixeira = $50 million annually to the luxury tax. Waste of money. That’s the point. No one really talks about Teixeira’s contract being an albatross. It is.
No Trade Clause November 12, 2012 02:43
Don’t forget me! It allows me to shackle any and all general managers and prevents me from being unceremoniously shipped to another city…to play a game…for millions of dollars.
Could you imagine Mark’s production if he didn’t have me protecting him from the unspeakable misery and stress of playing 81 games in another city?
Opt Out Clause November 21, 2012 05:29
Screw you NTC, it’s really me that has screwed the Yankees.
Mikey Gas and Electric November 12, 2012 10:12
Hey you guys are good at math but I still don’t have electric going on two weeks and I stopped the marathon single handedly.
At least Teixeira gives you a good days work plus he still comes on my show.. Playa’s used to come to NY for the paycheck and the thought ownership would always take out the money whip, now we’ve turned into the Boston Red Sox.. I liked it better when they turned into the NY Yankees, they weren’t as good at being us as we were, I hope we’re better at being them then they were at being us.
At least Teixeira gives you a good days work plus he still comes on my show.. Playa’s used to come to NY for the paycheck and the thought ownership would always take out the money whip, now we’ve turned into the Boston Red Sox.. I liked it better when they turned into the NY Yankees, they weren’t as good at being us as we were, I hope we’re better at being them then they were at being us.
Mikey Gas and Electric November 12, 2012 10:16
I usually repeat everything 3 times but my generator is running low on gas so take 2 times and like it
Duh November 12, 2012 10:34
I think the bigger point is that teams are not going to continue making the same mistakes over and over again and you will surely see a decline in the exorbitant multi-year contracts that the players have been exploiting for years now. It’s a joke. Fortunately, for them, they can all go play for the Dodgers, who don’t seem to care. Pujols will single-handedly kill the Angels organization. The question remains, though … is winning ONE world series enough to justify the amount paid to A-Rod, Tex and CC? Does one WS win generate enough revenue to offset those contracts? Probably not. And while it’s easy for us to sit here and willfully spend the Steinbrenner’s money, I for one and glad they’re at least pretending to care about the quality of the front office decision making.
Duh-m ass November 12, 2012 10:54
They dont care about the decision making, they care about the moolah. Thats why it sucks to be a Yankee fan right now. Decisions have not been made on dollars in a long time, only on wins. Please sell the team.
Did you go to school? November 12, 2012 16:15
Yeah, sell the team to an ownership group that will spend even less money on the payroll.
Makes a lot of fucking sense.
Or... November 13, 2012 00:24
Bolster it, like L.A.
Mark Cuban November 16, 2012 23:56
Bud Selig can keep me out of MLB for so long
Robinson Tilapia November 12, 2012 12:35
Lets get the conversation back to cocks and anuses
Blunder November 12, 2012 16:16
What have you shoved up your ass today?
jjyank November 15, 2012 17:28
My Lord Voldemort dido!
Delcie Herimann November 13, 2012 05:16
Nice post. I was watching continuously this website and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last part I care for such info much. I was looking for this specific info for a long time. Thankyou and best of luck.
K-Long November 16, 2012 18:31
Swing for the fences! Who cares if you strike out 200 times in a season?!? Taters!!
I think November 17, 2012 19:15
We should get more douchebags that have absolutely ZERO experience in running any baseball team (Little League through MLB) to post their opinions on how to run the Yankees.
Right after anyone in the Yankees organization listen to ANY of you morons, I’ll swallow a forty slug the hard way.
Wow, there are some sad, dumb idiots that post here…
Pete C. November 17, 2012 19:17
Fuck you! I’ll Jolly Stomp you, homo…