Can Mark Teixeira really be considering a mega-deal from the Washington Nationals? Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times writes:
According to a source from a team that is involved in negotiations, the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles "are coming in hot" on Teixeira, with the Nationals said to be willing to offer the slugger a 10-year deal for more than $20 million a year and the Orioles possibly willing to go nine years for at least $20 million a year. The source was not authorized to speak on the record about the situation and required anonymity.
Bill Ladson of MLB.com offers this:
According to a Major League source, the club has offered the switch-hitting first baseman an eight-year, $160 million contract that would pay Teixeira an average of $22.5 million per season. (Math correction mine.)
There is smoke here. While Teixeira would be excoriated by the baseball punditry as a greed-driven pawn of Scott Boras, I am warming to the idea of Teixeira achoring the Nationals offense and defense for the next decade with Ryan Zimmerman and a burgeoning group of talented outfielders. All that is missing is a Tampa Bay Rays leap in quality pitching talent.
Can John Lannan and Colin Balester be the first wave of young pitchers that will see the Washington Nationals competing for the NL Wild Card in three years?