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The Texas Rangers are making a last ditch effort for a Georgia Tech signee:
The Rangers are making one last attempt to sign high school pitcher
Christopher Hicks, a 35th-round pick from Milton, Ga., who has committed to
Georgia Tech. Hicks has second- or third-round draft potential, but the Rangers
would lose negotiating rights if he attends class Monday.
How's this for calling a spade a spade. Mark Teixeira talks about why he went to Georgia Tech and didn't sign with Boston:
The numbers might not have been so lopsided if not for the much-maligned social skills of Wayne Britton, the scouting director under Dan Duquette. The Sox drafted Teixeira, one of the top high school prospects in the country, after the Scott Boras client slipped to the ninth round of the 1998 draft.
The club was prepared to offer the slugger-in-making first-round money, proposing a $1.5 million bonus to convince Teixeira to forego a scholarship at Georgia Tech. Teixeira's camp hoped for a $1.85 million bonus, but quickly pulled the plug on negotiations due to Boston's boorishness.
"They never had any serious talks with me beyond that first day of the draft. We were never really considering signing," reflected Teixeira, now 25 and seven years removed from the ordeal. "It wasn't about the money. If they want to be nitpicky about it, they can say they lost me over a couple hundred thousand dollars. But it was the way that I was treated by Wayne Britton and the front office that was the reason that I didn't sign."
According to Eagle-Tribune colleague John Tomase, that treatment included profane and abusive treatment of both Teixeira and his parents. Britton insisted on examining the prep star's fitness by having Teixeira strip to his underwear in his living room.
The decision became simple for Teixeira, who emerged as a dominant player in three years at Georgia Tech. In 2001, the Rangers plucked him with the fifth pick of the draft, and after just 86 games of minor-league seasoning, Teixeira became a fixture in the Rangers' starting lineup.
"That was a long time ago," concluded Teixeira. "The decisions that I made have worked out very well for me. I'm very happy to be where I am today."
All you can say is - just because a guy is a client of Scott Boros, don't go assuming that any breakdown in talks is because of that....................... Here's mention of former Jacket pitcher Dave Elder.......... Some things never change, like the stat line for Jason Neighborgall's first pro win - 5 innings, 5 hits, 4 walks, one hit batter, 3 k's, 3 wild pitches........ and a win.............................. Former Jacket Andrew Kown comments on an elephant throwing out the first pitch at a recent game..."I couldn't believe how far and how hard she throws it," Kown said before the Whitecaps lost to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-1. "If an elephant can (throw a strike), we should be able to do it."