A Really Big Deal

"Man, what an impressive guy," Teixeira said of Lerner on Tuesday. "That guy is a very successful businessman, and he's trying to make the Nationals a successful team. The Nationals and Orioles were definitely up there -- a chance to play close to home. But for my goals as a ballplayer, to be a world champion, the Yankees were just so far and above everyone else in that realm."

John Teixeira, Mark's father, recalled his son's reaction to his meeting with Lerner in much the same way: "He said to me, 'That's an impressive man.' To see what [Lerner has] accomplished in his life, and to see how dedicated he is to the community -- that meant a lot to him. Anybody who thinks Mark didn't consider Washington is wrong. There was very much interest on his part, mostly because of Mr. Lerner."

The question that will gnaw at Teixeira's spurned suitors is this: If he and his wife truly decided on the Yankees all the way back on Dec. 12, did Teixeira and agent Scott Boras string along the other teams for those remaining 10 days until the Yankees deal was reached?

Naturally, Boras disputes the notion, saying of the rejected teams: "They made good-faith proposals, and they were given proposals, which means if they accepted them, the player would have signed the proposals. And if teams reject them, they cannot in any way suggest they were strung along."

Boras also revealed that Teixeira did not take his "best financial offer," though he did not specify which other team had gone higher.

Teixeira, too, denied the charge. "I wasn't stringing other teams along," he said. "But at the same time no one had really stepped up to make [the decision easy]. For a long time there, all of the [offers] were basically the same."

Meantime, the Teixeira signing pushed the Yankees' total free agent tab this winter to $423.5 million -- roughly $20 million more than the amount spent so far by the other 29 teams in baseball, combined. It has prompted several rival owners around the game to renew the periodic call for a salary cap in baseball. The Yankees, however, point out they had some $80 million in payroll come off the books in expired contracts this winter and that their 2009 payroll, though still the biggest in the game by far, will be lower than it was in 2008.

"If some owners are upset we invest in our team," managing owner Hal Steinbrenner said Tuesday, "I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."