Tim Raines- Thoughts on Mark Teixeira, "New York Is Not Treating Him Right"

MLB legend, Tim Raines took the time to speak with me about Mark Teixeira and his transition to New York. In this portion of an interview done on Monday, May 14, 2012, Raines explains that he believes Tex isn’t transitioning well at all. In fact, Raines thinks that Tex isn’t happy here in NY. You don’t want to miss these comments.

http://youtu.be/XuXd7iclaqE

Some may argue that he used to not have a ring, but that’s more of a team thing.

This season Tex is hitting just .248 with eight home runs. However, he does have an impressive 28 rbi’s, while also having scored 24 runs.

Tex has always looked amazing in the field. For his career he has a .996 fielding percentage. During his career, the star first baseman has already taken home an extremely impressive four gold gloves.

Those stats have transitioned well during the move to the big city. The only thing that hasn’t come through is his batting average. During his first year in NY in 2009, Tex had his best season for the Yanks. That season he hit .292 with 39 bombs, to go along with an outstanding 122 rbi’s.

Since that year, he hasn’t batted higher then .256. His power however has yet to go anywhere. In each season with the Yanks, Tex has hit at least 33 bombs, while hitting 39 twice. He looks like he wants to hit it out of the park every time. The bombs are great, but not at the loss of a batting average.

The other thing that Tex has yet to do, even though he promised to during spring training, is hit to the left side.

“If they’re playing a big shift, I might lay some bunts down this year,” Teixeira said. “I’ve been so against it my entire career, [but] I might lay down a few bunts. If I can beat the shift that way, that’s important.”

Teixeira said that he came to the decision on his own this winter, though he has discussed squaring up his stance with hitting coach Kevin Long. Teixeira said that the shifts have been “very frustrating” for him, noting that he also needs to work on not hooking the ball as much from the left side of the plate.

“When you have a 1-2 pitch, instead of trying to drive the ball in the gap and drive in the runs, take that single to left,” Teixeira said. “It’s easier than it sounds, but one hit a week really adds up.

Tex, I am all for it, but are you?