What it would take to land Teixeira

Update (3:00 p.m.): Buster Olney says that the Yanks had an offer on the table but have since pulled it. “They want to cut payroll,” Olney writes, “and basically, they cannot do this if they sign Teixeira.”

It is of course a bad time to cut payroll as Teixeira fills an obvious need. Additionally, as has been pointed out in the comments, the Yanks could withdraw their offer to Pettitte and just commit to Melky and Brett Gardner in the outfield for instant savings. After 2009, enough money is coming off the books that Teixeira makes sense. I’d hate to see them opt out off this signing as they did with Carlos Beltran over a matter of a few million dollars for one season. But as more and more stories come out, I’m less inclined to believe that Teixeira will wind up in the Bronx.

Dan Graziano says we should forget about a Yankee discount. Teixeira is a true Boras client through and through.

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Scott Boras really wants the Yankees to either land Mark Teixeira or at least be more involved in the bidding. As I wrote this morning, the Yanks may be willing to make Teixeira a $160-million, eight-year offer, but it won’t be enough.

Meanwhile, Boras keeps pushing. He has anonymously sourced reports everywhere. Jon Heyman had the Yanks in on Teixeira; Micheal Schmidt in The Times has them interested. But today, Kat O’Brien unveils the most interesting take of all. It seems that Scott Boras is more interested in the Yankees than the Yankees are in Boras and Teixeira for now.

O’Brien reports on what it would take to land Teixeira. She writes:

Despite agent Scott Boras’ efforts to get the Yankees involved in the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, the Yankees remain on the periphery of the bidding, sources said yesterday…

Two sources confirmed that Boras and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talked Friday, but they said it was Boras – not Cashman – who initiated contact. One source said Boras gave Cashman an estimate of what it would cost to land Teixeira, a superb defensive and offensive first baseman. The ballpark figure reportedly was about $22 million to $23 million per year on an eight-year contract, for a total of $180 million to $185 million.

The source said Boras wanted to give the Yankees an opportunity to make an offer. The Yankees currently do not have an offer on the table for Teixeira…A source said the Yankees have not ruled out making an offer for Teixeira, saying: “We’re debating it. Some in the organization want to do it.”

That’s, I think, the most accurate picture of where things stand. Boras wants the Yanks involved. Some of the Yankee Front Office would like Teixeira, and there seems to be a bit of a hold up over signing another costly free agent to a very long-term deal. But as things stand with the Red Sox and Angels, Teixeira could New York’s for the taking if they make the right offer.

If the team really is, as The Times noted earlier, willing to go to $160 million, what’s another $2 or $3 million a season anyway?