“It’s a little bittersweet,” new Angels first baseman Mark Teixeira said, “I really enjoyed my time here. I had a great year here. I love this team. I love this organization. I love this city. It’s tough to leave.”

Good lord to I love the late-season, MLB Contract Drive. We’re talking maximum America; apple pie, the DH, baseball and rampant capitalism. We’re talking mercenary millionaires letting it all hang out, loving on everybody. It’s like a soap opera.

Explain to me how Big Tex isn’t a loaner? With 2 months between him and free agency, the 28 year old, switch-hitting 1B with Gold Gloves and almost 200 career home runs, I’m sure the kid is heartbroken he can’t stick with the fiscally conservative Braves. Just like I’m sure he’ll love Anaheim so much they’ll get a home team discount, and I’m sure C.C. Sabbathia is going to put the hot dog down.

I guess I’d just prefer honesty. Tell me the Braves are a pinch-penny organization. Tell me you’re primed for a bidding war. Tell me it’s 10 years $200 million. Just don’t tell me you actually care about anything between now and then. I wouldn’t either.

Then there’s Manny, who amuses me.

The man, you see, is tired. First of all, tired is a word I’d avoid were I a baseball player – sorry, were I a non-pitcher. Fatigued, maybe, drained, sure, but tired is for marathoners, offensive linemen and media interns. Manny doesn’t run, he jogs, sometimes. Most times he just stands watching the game. And that’s not baseball hate. I’m not saying they’re not athletes, that they don’t do things we mere mortals can only dream of. I’m just saying – as I watch Prince Fielder round the bases – that those sausage race folks are probably quicker to home plate.

The man is beaten down and betrayed by an organization with the temerity to suggest that, days after the slugger pulled himself out of a divisional game, Manny seek medical attention. Good lord Theo, you’re a monster!

Mostly, he’s just pissed because the market is totally out of control. For reasons I’m sure have nothing to do with increased testing, power numbers are somewhat down, and men who do what he does can demand a bit more than $20 mil annually. Just not Manny, because the Sawcks gambled he’d play well throughout his contract, and stuck a pair of option years on the back end.

Poor Manny, who knows there’s another organization out there willing to put up with his DH-like fielding abilities, sudden fear of top rotation pitching and liberal use of PTO. Several, most likely, all of which would be forced to fork over at least another $10-$20 mil for his services.

Too bad he doesn’t play for the Braves, Mark Teixeira says they’re a stand up group.