Any suggestion that the Red Sox could not (and can not) compete for free agents with New York is utter nonsense because the Sox have signed free agents in the past. With Mark Teixeira, the Sox were not nearly as aggressive. The bottom line is that other teams (excluding the Yankees) were in the same neighborhood, which allowed Teixeira to drag out the process. Had the Sox come out of the gate with, say, an eight-year offer for $184 million, maybe they could have gotten the deal done. Maybe it would have taken $192 million. But if the Sox came out strong -- very strong -- and gave Teixeira a short window to accept, their chances might have been better. If Teixeira then had balked, the Sox would have had their answer: Teixeira never wanted to come here. Instead, the Sox left the door open for the Yankees to swoop in, which created an array of issues. Most notably, by the time Teixeira made his decision, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett both had signed with New York, making the Yankees a more attractive destination; earlier on, that was not the case. By allowing the process to drag, the Sox enhanced New York's position.
