Is "The Loose Cannon" Jim Bowden About To Pull A Fast One For The Washington Nationals And Bring Mark Teixeira To DC?

Teixeira Update...as of 12:09 am EST 12/19/08...Mark Teixeira has not yet accepted or rejected the Washington Nationals' generous offer...

If you're willing to believe...and you piece together the news about the Mark Teixeira negotiations that has leaked out today...in just the right way, it might be possible to infer that the Washington Nationals are attempting to pull a Texas Rangeresque purchase of the top free agent on the market this winter...

SI.com writer Jon Heyman reported early in the news cycle today, in his article entitled, "Red Sox still look like front-runners to win the Teixeira sweepstakes", that the Boston Red Sox had offered an 8-year/$180(some said $184) million dollar contract to Teixeira, with, "...the Angels in for about the same," but it appears that "The Loose Cannon" Jim Bowden and the constantly disrespected DC squad may finally be tired of their NL East-doormat status, as Mr. Heyman writes:

"The Nats may be as high, or even higher than that. Some suggest they have either hit the $200 million mark, or gotten very close. Or that someone else has."

(ed. note - "That 'someone else' is ominous...")

...But early in the evening came the disheartening reports out of ESPN.com that the Red Sox and Teixeira's agent Scott "Maximum" Boras were meeting to hammer out the final details of a deal to bring Tex to Boston...8-years/$184M were the reported terms that got it done...BUT...by the midnight hour, ESPN.com's news services (and several other sources) were quoting an email from Red Sox' owner John Henry to the press in an article entitled, "Henry: Red Sox outbid on Teixeira", with Mr. Henry stating electronically:

"We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him," Henry told the Associated Press. "After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."

If it says AP it has to be true...Now breaking that statement down, Mr. Henry does say, "his other offers" implying that more than one team is apparently willing to outspend the Red Sox, (which I find hard to believe...), but with Orioles' GM Andy MacPhail telling Baltimore Sun writer Dan Connolly yesterday in an article entitled, "MacPhail: 'We have flexibility' on Teixeira offer" that Baltimore would react to the continuing negotiations with room to move up from the original offer they had extended...and the Angels probably needing to overcompensate to bring Teixeira back out West...not to mention the NY Yankees, who until now have merely expressed interest, without anything even approaching an offer in public...? Could it be the Nationals as Mr. Heyman reported? Could DC have been the one to climb up to 10-years and $200 million?

Teixeira Update...as of 12:55 am EST 12/19/08...Mark Teixeira has not yet accepted or rejected the Washington Nationals' generous offer...