Yankees’ Teixeira Looking Forward To A Full Off Season

This season has been a relative disaster for Mark Teixeira. While he has been healthier than he was in 2013, that isn’t saying much. Last season Teixeira played in 15 games because of a wrist issue. In 2014 He has appeared in 112 games. While he has been in the lineup more often, he has not been productive enough. He is batting .218 through 466 plate appearances. On the plus side, he has hit 21 home runs, but has just 58 RBI to go with them. This is a guy that hit 39, 33, and 39 home runs in his first three seasons with the team, while owning 122, 108, and 111 RBI in the same years. For $22.5 million per year, the Yankees have a guy that is a good defensive first baseman.

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Teixeira has blamed his poor performance this season on his shortened off-season workout program. Rather than his usual November 1^st start, he had to wait until January this past year while his wrist healed. Teixeira has shown flashes of his old self at times, but since the All-Star break, his average is continuing to drop and his power is all but gone.

Teixeira is excited for the off-season. This time around, he will be able to do his entire workout program at the right time. He plans on getting back to heavy lifting and wants to bulk up for the 2015 season. This is great news, as the Yankees have seen what getting skinny has done to former ace CC Sabathia. Teixeira knows he is a slow first baseman. There is no point in changing his game now. If Teixeira can bat .260 with 25 home runs, 85 RBI, and an OBP near .350 in 2015, the Yankees should be pretty thrilled.

Unlike other players on the team like Carlos Beltran, I believe Teixeira can come back and have a strong 2015 campaign. Teixeira has said earlier in the season that his wrist will never be 100% again. We do not know how much of that was legitimate and how much was frustration. Tex is a vocal guy, and we should hear this off-season how his training progresses. The Yankees will have a lot of question marks in 2015. Hopefully Teixeira is a sudden bright spot.