Red Sox Outbid for Mark Teixeira

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ December 19, 2008 at 6:40am ⋅ Post a comment

According to numerous sources, the Red Sox are now out of the bidding for free agent slugger Mark Teixeira.

As late as Thursday afternoon, it appeared the Red Sox were finalizing a deal for Teixeira, but overnight things drastically changed. Owner John Henry emailed the Associated Press saying the Sox “are not going to be a factor” in signing 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.”

ESPN’s Peter Gammons thinks that the Red Sox may be calling the bluff of Tex’s agent, Scott Boras. Boras is known for inflating his player’s value in order to get teams to raise their offer. Out of the four remaining teams in the bidding (Orioles, Nationals, Angels, and Red Sox), Boston or Los Angeles seem like the most logical places for Big Tex.

Henry and the Sox tried to call Boras’ bluff in 2005 when Johnny Damon left as a free agent. They didn’t believe the Yankees were in the lead to sign Damon, and they were wrong. Let’s hope they’re not wrong again…

About KC Downey

KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey

Tags: Mark Teixeira, Red Sox

Discussion

One comment for “Red Sox Outbid for Mark Teixeira”

I agree with Gammons, I think Boras wanted a bigger offer. I heard it was like 8 years/$176M ($22M per) and I don’t see the O’s or Nats matching that. The Angels haven’t historically laid anything like that out either. The Sox offer remains on the table as is, but for him to take it, Boras would leave negotations with his tail between his legs.

Posted by Mike | December 19, 2008, 5:54 pm