Mark Teixeira, the first baseman who signed an eight-year deal worth 180 million dollars with the New York Yankees, donned the club's pinstripe uniform in public for the first time on Tuesday.
Teixeira appeared at Yankee Stadium two weeks after signing the deal and spurning Major League Baseball rivals Baltimore, Washington and Boston to join the Yankees.
"My goal is the same goal as the Yankees - to win the World Series," Teixeira said. "This is a great day for me. I know a lot is expected of me but no one expects more of me than myself."
The Yankees, who last year missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993, have spent 423 million dollars to add Teixeira and pitchers CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to the lineup.
Teixeira falls between Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter on the list of baseball's highest-paid players and could very well find himself between the superstars in the Yankees' batting order as well.
Free agent bidding saw Teixeira as the top prize with his home-region clubs, Baltimore and Washington, making offers and the Boston Red Sox, arch-rivals of the Yankees, hoping to land him as well before a late offer lured him away.
"This was a stressful situation. It was a relief. Once it hit me I was going to be a Yankee it was pure joy. A little relief but a lot of excitement," said Teixeira. "Being a Yankee, there's nothing better."
Teixeira was traded from Atlanta to the Los Angeles Angels last season, a year in which he hit 33 home runs and batted .308 while driving in 121 runs.
The 2001 debutant with Texas is a career .290 hitter with 203 homers and 676 RBI in 904 games.
