The Rangers did not let Mark Teixeira go to Atlanta without a fight, owner Tom Hicks said Tuesday as the seven-player deal with the Braves was completed.
Hicks confirmed the Rangers made Teixeira an official long-term contract proposal more than two weeks ago in a last-ditch effort to keep him. The proposal would have kept Teixeira in Texas for eight more seasons at a total for approximately $140 million. The deal would have included a mutually agreed figure for Teixeira's last year of salary arbitration in 2008 and another seven years worth $18 million per season.
Teixeira was making $9 million this season, the second year of a two-year deal with the Rangers. He is eligible for arbitration next season and is expected to receive between $12 million and $14 million per season.
"I've always loved Tex as a player," Hicks said Tuesday by phone from California. "I was personally involved in signing him and I wanted him to be a face of this organization, along with Michael Young, for the long term.
"I thought we made enough of an offer to keep him a Ranger for life. I'm disappointed he turned it down, but I think we did everything we could to keep him. Now, we've got some very good young players coming here and I feel with some good moves and free-agent signings, we can be a championship team."
Teixeira Turned Down $140 Million Extension Offer