Yankeetorial: Teixiera might be on the mark again

This year, Mark Teixiera will hit with his head.

Instead of trying to pile drive the ball through five surgically placed infielders stacked on the right side of secondbase, Tex says he'll practice bunts in spring training. It's about time.

Sadly, his announcement brought immediate derision: Somebody tweeted, "the Yankees' $180 million bunter." Fuck that. He's putting his team ahead of his numbers.

Last year, from the left side, Teixiera hit a wretched, pitiful, non-existent .224. That's Lenn Sakata. That's Henry Cotto. That's Andre Robertson. I don't care how many RBIs a guy hits: .224 is a lot of runners left on base. If Tex can buy 10 bunt singles next year, his average will rise by 25 points. If it causes defenses to shift, that's another 20 points. We need him hitting .270 with power. That's the $180 million bunter. And I'll take it.

Besides, it will get John Sterling off his back. In September, whenever Tex came to the plate, Ozzie and Harriet always opined how easy it would be for him to drag a base hit. He's finally listening?