Teixeira Announcement Imminent
December 23, 2008 by Mike
As first reported here yesterday, the Red Sox are reportedly going to announce the signing of free agent slugger Mark Teixeira. The Washington Times website is reporting that the announcement will be made by the end of the day.
More from the Times:
While the source declined to discuss specifics, there are strong indications that the Red Sox will announce that they have landed the highly-coveted slugger, who has been courted this offseason by several major league clubs, including the Angels, Orioles and Nationals.
The Red Sox have been considered one of the lead contenders in the Teixeira sweepstakes, but it was unclear whether the team would be able to meet the asking price from agent Scott Boras, who had hoped to land a contract for as much as $200 million over ten years. Last week, Red Sox owner John Henry told reporters that the team was no longer pursuing the player, but the statement was widely seen as a negotiating maneuver.
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Yeah, solid reporting there…
Yankees reach agreement with Teixeira on 8-year, $180M deal
By Jon Heyman, SI.com
The Yankees have reached an agreement in principle to sign Mark Teixeira, SI.com has learned, beating out the rival Red Sox for the free-agent slugger’s services.
Teixeira, who hit .308 with 33 home runs and 121 RBIs in 2008, will receive an eight-year, $180 million deal from the Yankees with a full no-trade provision.
The final three teams in the race to sign Teixeira were the Red Sox, Nationals and Yankees. However, it was the Yankees who stepped up their heavy pursuit of Teixeira on Tuesday, as first reported by SI.com.
The Yankees quietly remained in contact with the Teixeira camp, but after spending $243.5 million on star starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, they didn’t appear anxious to be the market setter.
The Red Sox threw a curveball late last week when owner John Henry announced they were no longer “going to be a factor” following a meeting at Teixeira’s Dallas-area house. But after a little while, it became clear that Henry only meant that they intended not to up their bid, not that they were pulling out of the derby entirely.
While Henry’s team remained in the running, Angels owner Arte Moreno pulled out for real on Sunday, announcing they had given up the chase. Moreno had submitted a proposal believed to be for $160 million at the Winter Meetings and hadn’t moved from that initial offer.
While there were rumors that the Severna Park, Md., product preferred to be on the East Coast, there never was any real evidence of that. He loved his time in Anaheim and continued to live in the Dallas area, so those suggestions may have been overplayed.
Teixeira’s deal raises the Yankees’ offseason spending spree to $423.5 million. Just last Thursday, they gave Sabathia a $161 million, seven-year contract and Burnett an $82.5 million, five-year deal.
The Yankees, preparing to move into their pricey new ballpark, will hold the four largest contracts in the sport. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez has baseball’s highest deal at $275 million over 10 years, and shortstop Derek Jeter is second at $189 million over 10 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Don’t y’all look like idiots for reporting that shit last night. Maybe next time back it up with a source. Now y’all look like a dumb blog.good job.