Doom and Gloom
Gammons: Henry, Lucchino Blew Teixeira Deal
Now Sox Franchise Dealt a Permanent Blow
PG: What If Sox Owners Had Allowed Theo to Close Out Teixeira Deal?
"[Theo] Epstein and manager Terry Francona visited the Teixeira family, and to hear Tex and agent Scott Boras tell it, the deal could have been done the next day for $180 million. Oh, there was posturing for ways to make it a 10-year contract, but that could have been worked around. Then something happened when principal owner John Henry and CEO Larry Lucchino went to visit Teixeira, and the player had soured on the Red Sox.
The future directions of both teams were altered. Teixeira is now a major franchise piece of the defending World Series champions. Instead of having Teixeira at first base and Kevin Youkilis at third for years, Boston now is trying to deal with an aging process that is uncomfortable. At the end of this season, the Red Sox will have to look at another uber-contract, perhaps for either Carl Crawford (if he isn't already on the Cross-Bronx Expressway) or Jayson Werth, or empty the farm system for Adrian Gonzalez, whom the Padres don't have to trade." -- Peter Gammons, MLB.com columnist
