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The contract talks surrounding Mark Teixeira could possibly make him the highest paid player in Major League Baseball.

If you're the highest paid player in the game, shouldn't you BE the best player in the game?

So the question is this:  Is Teixeira the best player in baseball or is he over rated and over valued?

Some things to consider about handing out this much money to a player.  The comparable contracts to the one being talked about with Teixeira is Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez.  All three players carry the "thunder stick" label as a game changing bat in the line up.  Look at all three, side by side:

-Career .290 hitter.  In comparison to other contracts as large as the one being discussed for Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez is a career .306 hitter.  Manny Ramirez is a career .314 hitter.

-He's never hit over 45 home runs in a season. Alex Rodriguez has gone over that mark five different seasons.  Manny Ramirez has hit 45 home runs twice and over 40 five times.

-His highest RBI total is 144, his average is 112.  Alex Rodriguez's highest is 156 and average is 127.  Manny has knocked in 165 and 145 in his highest two years and averages 115 per season.

-Teixeira averages 115 whiffs per season.  Rodriguez averages 108 per season and Manny averages 104.

-Manny's career OBP is a staggering.411 to Rodriguez's .389 and Teixeira's .378.

-Defensively it's not even close.  Once an elite defensive SS, Rodriguez is almost a liability at 3B and never found his groove.  Manny is even worse in the outfield.  Teixeira is a gold glove defender at his position.  That said, 1B is the easiest defensive position to play on the diamond.

The end question:  Teams game plan around Manny and A-Rod, always have.  Those two players are game changers, Boston rode Manny all the way to two World Series rings, offensively.  The Yankees offensive numbers are staggeringly different prior to his arrival and after.  Does Teixeira carry that same fear when he strolls to the plate?  Is he a game changer or just a very good player?

Think it over and vote / discuss.

I don't think he can carry a team....I don't feel like he was the guy For both the Angels,and the Braves the past couple of years....So I think he's Highly over rated....Could he Pull a Todd Helton,get the big cash,and then tank? I think so...

Modified to add...I think his Gold Gloves are slightly Over rated too...I've been trying to think of the Really Good 1st baseman in MLB,and most of them are all NL guys....As Maine said in another post 1st base is the place where guy's still have a good bat,but thier defense is waning (Paraphrasing)

^^I think a bad 1B can really hurt you, at times.  See Jason Giambi.  But that's the one position where you can stick fading catchers, outfielders and third basemen when they can't field their original position anymore but can still swing a stick well.

I would also say that Kevin Youkilis is amazing defensively.  He has gold glove abilities at 3B, 1B and the outfield - the game just slows down for him defensively.  But he's a rare "great" defensive 1B player.

I liked him at 6 years/$120 Million. I don't like him at 8 years/$183 Million. Those contracts should be reserved for those rare, guaranteed HoF locks like A-Rod, Pujols and even Manny back in 2000. Tex is awesome, but he just isn't one of those guys.

They just reported on ESPN that Tex was looking for an 8 year $195 million deal...

Sweet jesus...that's just insane.

It's not insanity if someone is willing to give it to him. It all depends on who else is a free agent at the time. K-Rod got some bad luck because there were other closers on the market like Fuentes and Kerry Wood and even JJ Putz was available in a trade. So, he didn't get the 5 years/$75 Million he could've gotten if he was the lone closer. Instead, he got a 3 year deal.

Tex is a free agent when the only other slugger is Manny, and Manny will be 37 next year. So, it's just Tex. If it were Tex and Pujols and Youkilis, you would see Tex accept a 6 year/$114 Million deal.

Sure it is!  Insanity isn't an exclusive club...the guy writing the check can join it as well.

I actually agree with your side of thinking on the issue, just saying that in today's world, you will find most free agent signings to be rather insane. I would say 1 out of every 5 free agent signings or contract extensions I see make sense to me.

Scott Boras is his agent.  What do you expect?