Calling Boras' Bluff?

Around 11pm last night John Henry, Principle Owner of the Boston Red Sox, sent this email to the press, "After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."

Oh really?

My gut reaction was "oh crap the Yankees just dropped $200 million on Boras and Tex". However after reading John Henry's quote again, talking about it with friends, and reading some of the sports columns this morning I don't think that all.

Sounds more like the Red Sox are still negotiating, albeit through the press. All indications are that the Sox have the best offer out there for Teixeria, and he hasn't signed anywhere else since last night. These negotiations have turned into classic Scott Boras, the mystery team involved to drive up the price. Boras tried using this against the Sox when they were negotiating with Varitek 4 years ago.

The Sox were smart to walk away last night. I'm sure they have a dollar amount they don't want to go above, so when Boras says I have another offer out there, Sox Brass said "ok prove it." John Henry's quote doesn't say that the Red Sox are ending negotiations or are withdrawing their deal; it's calling Boras' bluff.

We'll see where negotiations go from here with the Sox and Boras, certainly they've been down this road before. At the end of the day Boras wants to milk every dollar he can and the Sox won't pay a cent more then they feel they should. Stay tuned sports fan!