The Mark Teixeira sweepstakes ended Dec. 23, and not surprisingly, the Nationals weren't the ones landing a free agent Christmas present.
The switch-hitting slugger agreed to an eight-year, $180 million deal with the Yankees, according to multiple media reports. The Nationals, Angels, Red Sox and Orioles had all expressed interest in acquiring Teixeira, but in the end, the deep pockets of the Yankees proved too tough to overcome.
Both Washington and Baltimore had been hoping that the tug of coming home would appeal to Teixeira, a Maryland native.
Washington, Los Angeles and Boston were all believed to have offered Teixeira an eight-year, $160 million deal, below agent Scott Boras' reported asking price of $200 million for 10 years.
The Red Sox issued a statement Dec. 18 saying they believed they had been outbid for Teixeira, and the Angels subsequently announced that they had withdrawn their bid for the first baseman.
The only word out of D.C. was a comment from Nationals general manager Jim Bowden in an online Q-and-A on the team's Web site, when he said the team was committed to pursuing Teixeira.
But ultimately, that bid wasn't enough.
