You know when Scott Boras answers a question you are going to end up more confused than where you started. With that caveat here is what he and Teixeira had to say about the negotiations with the Red Sox:
Were the Red Sox and others strung along?
Scott Boras, agent: “I think whenever you represent a free agent player and he signs somewhere, part of the process is one where everyone is going to say they were strung along. Obviously, in my business, you’re either called a shopper or a puffer; one of the two, you’re going to be labeled with. You do the things you need to do, in good faith, when dealing with teams.
“As far as Boston goes, I think Boston knows they got good faith proposals and they were given proposals, which means, if accepted, the player would have signed the proposal. If teams reject them, they cannot in any way suggest they were strung along.”
Was Teixeira always going to New York or did the Red Sox and others truly have a chance?
Teixeira: “Every team did [have a chance]. I told my agent, ‘This is the pecking order,’ and I gave him my idea of who was going to be near the top. At the same time, I’m not going to lie to you guys. Contract was important. I wasn’t going to take half as much money to play in New York. But when a team like New York steps up and is very competitive with their contract, it was an easy decision for me.
“I wasn’t stringing the other teams along. At the same time, nobody had really stepped up to make it, ‘Hey, now Mark, let’s make a decision.’ For a long time there, most of the contracts were basically the same.”
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