The Braves want a young first baseman in any package for Teixeira, but they need to expand their focus. For one thing, they’re not getting the D-backs’ Conor Jackson, who has a .919 on-base/slugging percentage — better than Teixeira’s .896 — and is under club control for three more years.
The D-backs even would be hesitant to trade first baseman Chad Tracy, an accomplished if oft-injured slugger who is signed for a modest $4.75 million next season with a $7 million club option for 2010. Jackson has proven he can play left field, leaving Eric Byrnes to possibly fight for playing time next season.
Then again, the D-Backs could send Tracy to Atlanta and return Jackson to first next season, enabling Byrnes to reclaim left. They would need to include a second piece (Micah Owings?) and possibly a third, but two months of Teixeira would win them the N.L. West.
The D-backs, even after trading six young players for Dan Haren and another for Jon Rauch, still believe they have prospects to spare, particularly on the pitching side. They would make no attempt to re-sign Teixeria, but their likely free-agent departures — Teixeira, second baseman Orlando Hudson, closer Brandon Lyon, reliever Juan Cruz — could leave them with something like nine of the first 70 picks in next year’s draft. While the draft is expected to be weak, the D-backs would be in good position to re-tool.