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Yankees' Teixeira aiming for '30 and 100' season

Joy R. Absalon / USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira believes he still has plenty left in the tank. 

The injury-plagued slugger has seen his production decline due to numerous ailments over the past three seasons, but heading into spring healthy has given Teixeira ambitions of getting back to his former self. 

"Thirty and 100 is who I've always been and what I want to be," Teixeira told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. "So if I can do that, then I know I'm helping the team out. That's the most important thing, is that I'm on the field and driving in runs for the team."

Teixeira posted three consecutive campaigns of at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs from 2009-11, though hamstring and calf strains combined with surgery to repair his right wrist have kept him off the field for 225 games over the past three seasons. 

"Last year was really, really difficult, physically and mentally," Teixeira said. "I felt like garbage all year, basically. So when you're feeling like that and trying to perform, you just get beaten down and you wonder, 'Am I ever going to be the same?' And so this offseason I asked my body to do a lot of things and I responded."

Despite all the issues with his health, Teixeira, who turns 35 in April, told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports he hopes to play for five more seasons. His current eight-year, $180-million deal runs through the 2016 season. 

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