Mark Teixeira to Yankees: Where does this leave the Red Sox and Nationals?

December 23, 3:52 PMMLB ExaminerAlex Brown

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The New York Yankees have reached an agreement with free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.  The deal is for eight years and is reported to be worth more than $170 million.  The Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Washington Nationals were believed to be in the hunt for Teixeira up until today’s signing.

Teixeira gives the Yankees some balance to their offseason.  Previous signings of C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett solidified the rotation, but some still questioned the Yankee offense.  With Teixeira in the fold, the Yanks have one of baseball’s premier hitters for average and power – oh, and he’s a switch hitter as well.  Maybe most importantly, this gives the Yankees arguably the top three free agents this offseason.

Boston is a definite loser in this deal – they were once the frontrunner for Teixeira.  They lose primarily because he goes to New York, not because they needed his bat.  If they had signed Teixeira, Boston would have had to find a suitor for expensive and injury-prone third baseman Mike Lowell. 

The Nationals have to be disappointed in this signing.  Teixeira is from the Washington, D.C. area, and had expressed a desire to play close to home.  The Nats are believed to have upped their offer as recently as this morning in hopes of signing Teixeira before Christmas.  This could have been huge for the franchise, and they now will turn to the remaining bats on the market for offensive help.