Here's a hypothetical for you Doug (and any other baseball fan that cares to chime in with their own thoughts) concerning this whole Teixeira drama.
Let's say your Mark Teixeira and are in line for a monster (too much for any player, in my opinion) payday. The Red Sox and Angels are each offering somewhere around 8ys/175MM while the Nationals and Orioles are offering somewhere in the neighborhood of 8yrs/200MM with an option for 25MM 9th year. Which do you take?
Pros for the Halos:
* They will most likely remain competitive for most of or the entire run partly because both have a great, loaded farm system and partly because they have the money to build around you (not to mention being in a weak division with teams that cannot keep up financially).
* The great SoCal weather.
* Less pressure than Boston.
Cons for the Halos:
* They are offering less than Baltimore and Washington are.
* They are out west, and apparently you'd prefer to play on the East Coast, closer to home if possible.
* You will take a backseat to the Yankees/Red Sox as far as the national spotlight is concerned.
Pros for the BoSox:
* Like the Halos, they will most likely remain competitive for most of, if not your entire run due to their farm system and the financial resources to build around you.
* You will be in the national spotlight.
* Awesome fan base that extends beyond the New England borders.
* They are on the East Coast.
Cons for the BoSox:
* They are offering less than Baltimore and Washington.
* The local sports media can be a bunch of intolerable dickholes (ex: CHB).
* The pressure of playing in the AL East, the toughest division in baseball.
* The spotlight can be blinding, especially during Sox/Yankees games.
Pros for the O's:
* They are offering more than Boston or LA.
* They are your home town team, and you were a fan growing up.
* Oriole Park is the most beautiful baseball stadium in MLB.
* Less pressure than Boston.
Cons for the O's:
* Asshole ownership.
* A weak farm system and not enough funds to financially compete, especially in AL East: your mega contract will most likely handcuff them from building around you.
* When the Red Sox and Yankees are in town home games feel more like away games.
* You're in Baltimore, a shitty city (my apologies to anyone from Baltimore but let's face it, that place is a fucking dump).
Pros for the Nats:
* They are offering more than Boston or LA.
* Less pressure than Boston.
* A chance to become the franchise's first hero in the new city.
* The NL East is weaker than the AL East, so you have a better change of eventually competing than Baltimore.
* Close to home.
Cons for the Nats:
* No real fan base to speak of, you'll be expected to create one by your mere presence.
* Just like Baltimore, the farm system is weak and your contract will handcuff the team from building around you: so you will mostly not be competitive.
* Having to suffer through the obligatory "President throws out the first pitch" every year, all the while trying not to vomit.
* Ugh, they're the fucking Nats, what more needs to be said?