Tex is taking his time

 After it looked like the Boston Red Sox were close to signing slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira [.308, 33 HR, 121 RBI last year], things seemed to unravel for Beantown’s favorites last night. 

But by Thursday night, Red Sox owner John Henry had sent an email to The Associated Press saying they had been outbid for Teixeira and “are not going to be a factor” in acquiring him.

“We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him,” Henry told the Associated Press. “After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor.”

Henry’s reference to the “other offers” leaves open the possibility he is calling the bluff of agent Scott Boras, who has been known to inflate the value of offers and the number of suitors pursuing his client. Boras represented former Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon, who signed with the New York Yankees in 2005 after the Boston brass apparently refused to believe that the offer from their archrivals was real.

Henry indicated that the 8-year contract Teixeira wants is too much for Boston’s comfort. Teixeira is 29 years old and has been one of the most consistent hitters in the Majors for several years now. After being traded from Atlanta to the LA Angels last year, Teixeira tore up the American League in the regular season and then crushed Boston in the playoffs. 
Joel Sherman, who writes for the Hardball blog of the New  York Post, thinks Teixeira going to the Nats would be a mistake for a Washington team that should be trying to build through the draft rather than signing one superstar to play with a team full of scrubs.

And just an aside on Teixeira: I woke up this morning to see quotes from Red Sox owner John Henry that Boston is out of the bidding on the switch-hitting first baseman because the price is too high. If that is true — and let’s wait before we say anything definitive — I would assume that the only organization that has shown an inclination to blow Teixeira away financially is Washington (unless the Angels really are willing to go way further to retain Teixeira then previously imagined). And, boy, would it say bad things about both parties if the Nats really did something in the 10-year, $200 million range for Teixeira.

Teixeira is a wonderful player. But his addition still does nothing in the short term to move the Nationals closer to first place than last place. This would be like hanging a Picasso in a shed. The Nats would be so much better off using this kind of money to assure that they will sign the first overall pick in next year’s draft, beefing up their scouting all over the planet, and signing a few lower-end free agents to help get through the year with a higher level of competence. Teixeira is the kind of investment you make as a finishing piece to winning. Instead, by the time Washington would be ready to win, Teixeira likely will be in his thirties, out of his prime and starting a production slide.

As for Teixeira, he would be replicating what another Scott Boras client did: That would be Alex Rodriguez, who after the 2000 season followed the last penny to baseball insignificance in Texas. Teixeira has done a lot of his own losing in Texas and should know what it is like to be irrelevant every September. I hardly ever begrudge players going for money and if Teixeira wants the last penny, fine. But he is going to take the money and run right into a few seasons of almost guaranteed postseason viewing from the outside.

I would suspect that Boras would get Teixeira an out in the contract after, say, three years. So my prediction is that even if Teixeira signs with the Nats, he will not finish his contract there. I suspect some time midway through the 2010 or 2011 season we will be reading stories about the Yanks, Red Sox and others in a fight to obtain Teixeira from the Nats, who will be trying to trade him before he opts out of his contract.

Of course, the alternative is that Teixeira’s signing is like Pudge Rodriguez signing with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers soon began to attract and sign more stars and the team went from worst to first in the American League. That’s the dream scenario for Nats fans, of course. Personally, I’ll believe the Lerners are spending that kind of cash when I see the Lerners spending that kind of cash.