And the Saga Continues….

More Mark Teixeira news as we await word on something to happen. First Chico Harlan of the Washington Post states that the Nats are in a holding pattern until this is resolved (he speculates Monday), and seems to believe that the Nats still have the 8 year/160 mil offer on the table. Jerry Crasnick from ESPN.com tells the CMSB that the Red Sox may not be out of it, but admits that noone really knows for sure.

“It could be both posturing and finances. Some people assume, because of Teixeira’s personality and his reputation as the Boras “poster boy,” that he’s simply going to take the most money regardless of other factors. How much weight is he going to put on location, winning team, etc.? That’s a mystery right now.

I think the Red Sox are going to offer a deal they’re comfortable with, and they’re not going to waver out of desperation or panic. So right now we have an old-fashioned staredown between Boras and Boston.

These things tend to have a lot of twists and turns, so I wouldn’t take John Henry’s email to mean the Red Sox are definitively out of it. But it’s sure a lot more complicated than it appeared as of last night.”

Oh and just to remind you, our sources within the Nats organization maintain that they have the best offer on the table and maintain their “99%” confidence rate. Personally I hope for baseball’s sake that they are right. You can refresh your memory on that here.

Yankees Sign Burnett, May Be Out on Lowe

In an e-mail from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, I asked him if he thought the Yankees would still be in on Derek Lowe now that they have signed AJ Burnett. His response…

I don’t think the Yankees want to make another long-term commitment for a pitcher. They’d like to bring in Andy Pettitte or (if that doesn’t work out) Ben Sheets on a short contract. But after investing $243 million in two guys, I don’t think they want to spend $60 million more on Lowe.

I’m not sure how Lowe’s market is going to shake out. The Red Sox would only be interested if he comes cheap, the Phillies just spent $30 million on Raul Ibanez today, and the Dodgers don’t expect to bring him back.

Everybody thought the Braves were the likeliest fit, but they’re not interested.

To me, that leaves the Mets as the best fit for Lowe. But I don’t think he’s going to sign for anything close to what Burnett received.