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.

Gammons Report on Teixeira

ESPN’s Peter Gammons is reporting that the Mark Teixeira Sweepstakes is down to the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals. The Central Maine Sports Blog source within the Washington Nationals organization continues to be 99% certain Teixeira will be a Washington National. Gammons says expect a decision in 48 hours. Please refer to the previous story by the Central Maine Sports Blog.

10:11 Update….I just saw the piece with Peter Gammons. He did NOT give a deadline and he only made the Red Sox and Nationals mention in passing referring to where Manny Ramirez was likely to end up. This does not negate our source who maintains “99% certain” Mark Teixeira will end up a National.

Teixeira To Nationals "99%" According To Sources

Make that Nationals Red in the picture above. Sources within the Nationals Organization tell the Central Maine Sports Blog that the Nationals are “99% certain they will land slugger Mark Teixeira. Teixeira has narrowed the field down to the Red Sox and Nationals, with Teixeira and his family favoring Washington, and Boras pushing for the Red Sox.”

The source went on to state that the Nationals had a conference call with the minor league officials today to make sure they could could take the draft pick hit (which I now assume was because they had someone targeted in the second round, perhaps, who knows really, but there was a call), which is only going to be a second rounder due to the fact a top 15 pick is protected in the first round. (This version corrects previous info that the Nats would lose two first round picks, which is not the case, thanks to Cork Gaines from Rays Index and one of our commenters below for that info)

Washington Nationals May Have Just Irritated Red Sox Nation

While watching MLB EI last night, I watched a lot of the marathon Padres/Nationals game. In the 13th inning, during a pitching change, guess what was blaring over the loud speaker? Yes, you guessed it,”Sweet Caroline”! The Nationals even had an usher dancing like a moron on top of the dugout. San Diego’s broadcast team of Matt Vasgersian and Rick Sutcliffe were stunned, Vasgersian even said “How can you rip that off from the Red Sox, you are right down the road from them!” This, my friend’s, could get ugly. I will do my best to find video of this, although, I’ll be honest, I doubt I will be able to find any…