Highest Paid Players in Major League Baseball: An overview – Part 4
Mark Teixeira is in his ninth season in Major League Baseball and there has not been a single season in which he did not impress. He made his debut in 2003 with the Texas Rangers and played the entire season with command. Teixeira featured in 146 games in
his first season and managed 66 runs aided with 26 home-runs at an average of .259. He connected 137 times and managed 84 RBIs in the entire season.
His performance was more than what could have been expected from a rookie and thus he rose to fame quickly and became an instant hero for Texas supporters.
Mark did not let his supporters down in his second season either with an improvement on his statistics from the first season. In his second season, he crossed the 100 run barrier to end the season with 101 runs aided by 38 home-runs. His RBIs also crossed
the 100 mark and ended at 112 with the number of hits totalling 153. With such impressive figures in such short time, he had the required ingredients for a promising career at the Majors.
He continued improving each year and this consistency landed him with the New York Yankees after a couple of quick transfers between 2007 and 2008. Teixeira moved from Texas in the midst of 2007 season to Atlanta Braves after five constructive seasons with
the Rangers. His performance did not deteriorate, proving that his performance was not based on the team he was on.
2008 saw Teixeira move from the Braves to the Los Angeles Angels and like his previous season, his form did not decline. He continued his attacking ways, accumulating 33 home-runs and 102 runs in the season. Teixeira had become a household name till then
and his popularity was on the rise. With popularity, the other thing which experienced a rapid rise was his remuneration. He was converting his talent into performance and this is what quality player is all about.
The New York Yankees have been renowned for their spending ways and as expected, they did not stay back in this case. They landed Teixeira to Yankee stadium in 2009 and completed a star-studded roster with the likes of Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Derek
Jeter and Mariano Rivera already on the ranks.
In his two completed seasons with the Yankees, Teixeira managed to score more than 100 runs in each season and is in line to repeat the feat again this season with 56 runs already registered against his name this season. He displayed authority when he smashed
a grand slam on Friday, July 22 against the Oakland Athletics. He is expected to inflate his statistics in the second half of the season as the Yankees chase the World Series spot.
Mark Teixeira is unarguably one of the best first baseman to play the game. His fielding has complimented his play at the plate and the testimonies for this are the four Gold Glove awards he won to go together with three Silver Slugger awards. He won the
Gold Glove award consecutively in 2005 and 2006 followed by another two successive in 2009 and 2010. He won the Silver Slugger award in 2004, 2005 and 2009.
At 31, Teixeira has time on his side. He is nearing the 1000 runs mark and has just completed 300 career home-runs. If he plays for another eight to ten years with such boldness, he may feature in the top ten players ever to play baseball.
Continued in Part 5
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