Teixeira: 'In the back of my mind, the Yankees were always the top'
1:54 PM Tue, Jan 06, 2009 | Permalink
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As Mark Teixeira stood at the podium in Yankee Stadium and curved the brim of his new Yankee cap, it seemed like the histrionics between the first baseman and the Red Sox that dominated the month of December had never happened. Those dramatic negotiations with the Red Sox, that seemed so close to a positive conclusion just before Christmas? In Teixeira's new vision of events, there was only one team that was ever in the race, and that was the Yankees. "In the back of my mind, the Yankees were always the top," Teixeira said at his introductory press conference this afternoon. In the weeks before Teixeira signed with the Yankees, Red Sox brass flew to Teixeira's Dallas-area home, hoping to sign him to a deal. Teixeira's agent, Scott Boras, said that their offer, believed to be eight years and roughly $165 million, wouldn't match the others on the table. Owner John Henry pulled back, and the Red Sox said they wouldn't bid more, in a back-and-forth that was largely seen as gamesmanship by both sides. A week later, the Red Sox were seemingly on the verge of signing Teixeira to an eight-year, $170 million deal, when the 28-year-old's agent suddenly started asking for more time, leading the Red Sox to believe that Boras was now going to the Yankees seeking more money. Teixiera signed his eight-year, $180 million deal with New York hours later. But according to Teixeira yesterday, his decision had been made a full week before that, and the Red Sox were always on the outside looking in. "My wife and I decided two weeks before Christmas the Yankees are where we want to be." Does that mean, then, that the Red Sox were never more than leverage, to get the Yankees to up their offer? Or is Teixeira simply making nice and attempting to win over his new fan base? Teixeira spent much of his 10-minute question-and-answer session talking about his longtime love for the Yankees: how his favorite player had always been Yankee first basemn Don Mattingly, and how the Baltimore native would attend Orioles games wearing a Yankee hat. "I would wear a Yankees hat. Back in the '80s and early '90s, that wasn't a safe thing to do in Baltimore," Teixeira joked. He emphasized the role his family played in the process, repeatedly stating that it was his wife, Leigh, who told him to sign with the Yankees. He noted specifically that his sister lived across the Hudson in Hoboken, New Jersey, and that his Maryland-area family can now easily come see him play. Teixeira also credited the Yankee signings of pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett as dramatically influencing his own desire to come to New York. That contrasts somewhat with his statements that the Yankees were always his preferred destination. Regardless, now that Teixeira has taken over Jason Giambi's number 25, his first-base position, and his Yankee dollars, he is there to stay, and he is well on his way to rewriting the history books to make it seem as if he grew up on 161st street in the Bronx, sitting on Dave Winfield's knee. "Once it really hit me that I was going to be a Yankee, it was just pure joy. It hit me: the excitement of being a Yankee . . . I can be a Yankee? There's nothing better." 
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Jealous much?
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Heck, I'd be bitter, too, if I were a Sox fan.
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He used them all to get his want.Typical potential Yank move.I remember Bernie Williams did the same.Well,here we go.Baseball gets worse.Fans will give up on there team and hook on to another sport that has a SALARY CAP.It's not easy being a loser that gets it's teeth kicked out by the bully on the block......We Red Sox fans are fortunate that a sporting team can be fielded,but it's a poor time in MLB.......a CITY OF 9 MILLION that can't even sell out a season......You see the Yanks may have the money,but the Sox have the Spirit!
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Sounds familiar... That's pretty much what A-Rod said when he signed with the Yankmees years ago. I wonder if the Yankee brass told them to say that?!?!
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Bosox have slapped the Yanks around fairly regularly since the 'Curse' was broken,but still,it is the Yankees that most players want to play for.
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Bosox have slapped the Yanks around fairly regularly since the 'Curse' was broken,but still,it is the Yankees that most players want to play for.
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