The Angels joined the Nationals and Orioles as teams that have officially made an offer to Mark Teixeira, setting the bar at eight years for $160 million. The Red Sox are expected to join the fray with an offer of their own any day now, but what that offer will be is subject to much debate.
George King of the New York Post says the Sox are "wary of eight years but aren't shy of six for $150," which means Teixeira would average $25 million a season. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald expects an eight-year deal worth anywhere between $145 million and $175 million, while Dan Patrick suggested on his radio show this morning that he's heard the Sox will go as far as six years for $200 million.
In other words, no one really knows, but everbody is throwing out random numbers now so they can say they claim they were close later. (It sounds like fun, so let me try: eight years, $180 million! Just watch, I'll be a genius!)
Interestingly enough, King also claims the Yankees are still interested in Teixeira, though after investing nearly a quarter of a billion dollars (and counting) in pitching this winter, they may have to pass on Teixeira and "settle" on a shorter contract for Manny Ramirez, which sounds like a hell of a consolation prize to me.
