According to the Washington Times, the Boston Red Sox are on the verge of landing free agent first basemen Mark Teixeira.

While the source declined to discuss specifics, there are strong indications that the Red Sox will announce that they have landed the highly-coveted slugger, who has been courted this off-season by several major league clubs, including the Angels, Orioles and Nationals.

The Red Sox have been considered one of the lead contenders in the Teixeira sweepstakes, but it was unclear whether the team would be able to meet the asking price from agent Scott Boras, who had hoped to land a contract for as much as $200 million over ten years. Last week, Red Sox owner John Henry told reporters that the team was no longer pursuing the player, but the statement was widely seen as a negotiating maneuver.

The Orioles and Nationals had hoped to sign him in part because he is a Severna Park, Md. native, and the Nationals were reportedly willing to bid especially hard.

It is still unclear how much the Red Sox offered Teixeira, but there were reports last night that the Nationals had boosted their bid in a last-ditch effort to sign him.

That’s quite a turn of events from the end of last week when it was announced that the Red Sox had pulled out of the running. Maybe Teixeira crapped himself when he realized that he had chased away the Red Sox and Angels with demands (or at least, rumored demands) of a $184 million contract, and he decided to return back to earth. The thought of having to play for the Nationals or Orioles will do that to a man.

A Dominican site called Impactodeportivo.com.do is reporting that Manny Ramirez is set to sign a three-year, $75 million contract with the New York Yankees soon.

This is from Rotoworld.com:

Doubtful, extremely doubtful. Still, everyone else will picking up on the Dominican-based report soon enough. Manny to the Yankees is a definite possibility, but it’s highly unlikely that the two sides are this far along. On the off chance that it is, a more legitimate source will pick up on it soon.

Agreed. If the Yankees and Manny were this far along, a reporter for ESPN, FOX or SI would be all over it. I don’t doubt that there’s a great chance that Ramirez signs with the Bombers soon, but I doubt it’s going to happen within a day or two. Especially not after the Angels and Red Sox just pulled out of the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes.

The Los Angeles Angels became the second club (the Boston Red Sox being the other club) in the same week to pull out of the bidding war for Mark Teixeira by withdrawing their contract offer.

General Manager Tony Reagins was not immediately available for comment. The Angels offered Teixeira an eight-year deal, and though financial terms were not disclosed, it was believed to be worth at least $160 million.

The Washington Nationals, who reportedly offered eight years and $160 million, and the Baltimore Orioles, who reportedly offered seven years and about $150 million, remain heavily involved in the bidding.

Comments made by Boston Red Sox owner John Henry on Thursday night gave the impression that they were no longer pursuing Teixeira. The team had reportedly made him an offer in the eight-year, $170 million range.

This is such a unique situation because clubs are finally standing up to free agents who want extraordinary amounts of money and ridiculous contracts. So now if Teixeira wants to go to a winner, he’d better relax on his contract demands or else take the money and play in Washington or Baltimore next year.

The interesting thing now is whether or not the Yankees will make an official offer. Rumors of circulated that they’ve been interested, but like many people, I’ve always held the impression that they were only involved in the Teixeira talks to drive up the price for the Red Sox and Angels. But now that both of those clubs have pulled out of the race, the Yankees could land one of the top free agents on the market if they wanted to pony up. Stay tuned.

According to the New York Daily News, several members in the Yankees’ front office are split on whether or not to pursue free agent Manny Ramirez.

Two other officials are skeptical that the Bombers would commit three years to the enigmatic Ramirez, who has already seen the Dodgers make and withdraw a two-year, $45 million offer this winter. Both of them believe the Yankees will linger in the background while agent Scott Boras works to gather offers, and if the market is limited, the Yanks will try to jump in with a two-year, $50 million package.

According to a source familiar with the Yankees’ thinking, Brian Cashman has been lukewarm to the idea of signing Ramirez, but the rest of the front office – most notably Hal and Hank Steinbrenner – believes he is precisely what the Yankees need to bolster a lineup that underachieved in 2008.

It’s unlikely that Boras will let Ramirez sign anywhere until Mark Teixeira makes his decision, since the teams that fail to land the first baseman could decide to take a run at Ramirez as an alternative. The Red Sox, Angels, Nationals and Orioles are believed to be the final four teams in the running for Teixeira, and aside from the Red Sox, the other three could try to sign Ramirez if they don’t get Teixeira. The Dodgers could also jump back in the mix once the market for him clears up.

Well, if it’s the Steinbrenner brothers vs. Cashman, there’s no question who’ll win that battle. The Yankees are going to make a push for Ramirez, but not before they drive the asking price for Mark Teixeira through the roof. After handing out huge contracts to CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, it’ll be interesting to see how much the Bombers wind up offering Manny if they eventually do decide to pursue him.

Free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal is heading to Oakland to talk contract with the A’s according to the MLB.com.

Possibly demonstrating that he’s in the final stages of his decision-making process, Furcal, widely considered the top shortstop available in free agency, traveled to Oakland to meet with A’s officials. Accompanied by his wife, Glenny, and his agent, Paul Kinzer, Furcal stopped at the Oakland Coliseum, drove through neighborhoods where he might live and had lunch with A’s general manager Billy Beane.

Kinzer confirmed Furcal’s trip, which was initially reported by FoxSports.com.

“We just wanted to look around and see how [Furcal] felt about the area before he went further,” Kinzer told MLB.com. “He did like it, and he was fine with the area.”

Furcal, who’s coming off a three-year, $39 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is reportedly seeking a four-year contract. Kinzer was staying in the Bay Area overnight, indicating that he could conduct face-to-face negotiations with the A’s on Wednesday.

Furcal, 31, appeared in only 36 regular-season games last season due to a lower back injury. But that indirectly increased his free-agency value, since he didn’t play enough to qualify for the Elias Sports Bureau rankings and thus won’t cost the team that signs him a selection in next June’s First-Year Player Draft.

I might be naive, but I believe Furcal still has a lot to offer at this stage of his career. Injuries have sidetracked an otherwise bright future, but I think he knows this is it for him. He’s not going to land another big contact again and he knows he has to perform. I don’t know if heading to the AL is such a wise move, however. The Giants are also interested, and they might be a better fit considering they like to run and he wouldn’t block any top prospects.

The World Series Champions aren’t sitting pat this offseason. The Phillies are apparently aggressively pursing Rockies’ outfield Matt Holliday to add another potent bat to their lineup.

The Rockies surely would be interested in Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino, but it isn’t known whether Philadelphia would consider moving him. The Phillies have several other well-regarded young players, including catcher Lou Marson, shortstop Jason Donald and pitcher Carlos Carrasco. Sources indicate that the Phillies have enough good young players to be able to do a deal for Holliday if the sides can agree.

Baseball executives expect Holliday to be traded at some point this offseason, but nothing appears imminent.

Any team after Holliday is about to play Russian Roulette. His contract expires at the end of the 2009 season, so there’s a great chance that whatever team acquires him will only be doing so for one season. Obviously a long-term deal can be struck, but most players want to test the free agent waters before making a decision on if they want to return to the team they just played for.

The Chicago Cubs have emerged as a possible candidate to acquire San Diego Padres’ ace Jake Peavy.

The Chicago Cubs have leapt to the forefront of the Jake Peavy trade discussion, though the San Diego Padres are continuing to talk with the Atlanta Braves in hopes of extracting a better package, sources told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night.

The team that lands the former National League Cy Young winner could depend on which includes its top pitching prospect, according to the sources. The Padres have asked the Cubs for right-hander Jeff Samardzija as the headliner of a package that could include outfielder Felix Pie, pitcher Sean Marshall and infielder Ronny Cedeno. Other potential pieces, another source said, were pitcher Kevin Hart and minor-league pitcher Donnie Veal.

A rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster would be filthy, although the Cubs would be mortgaging their long-term future by parting with so many prospects. Still, their roster is set up for them to win now and in baseball, you have to worry about one year at a time if you’re a contender like the Cubs obviously are.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are willing to spend big to retain Manny Ramirez.

General manager Ned Colletti said Wednesday the Dodgers’ pitch to the free-agent slugger would give him the second-highest average salary in the sport behind Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

“If you saw the bid, it’s nothing that we’re embarrassed by,” Colletti said at the GM meetings. “Manny was close to that number, anyway — closer to that area than the last place he’s been.”

Rodriguez currently has the top average at $27.5 million under the 10-year deal he agreed to before last season. Mets pitcher Johan Santana is second at $22.9 million under the six-season deal he agreed to this year.

Ramirez, acquired from Boston on July 31, is coming off an eight-year, $160 million contract he signed with the Red Sox before the 2001 season.

This is all well and good, but they’ll have to top whatever the Yankees offer. A couple of weeks ago, Ramirez flat out said that he wanted to see which team offered him the highest contract. If the Yankees concentrate on trying to sign ace CC Sabathia, there’s a great chance that Man-Ram will wind up back in Dodger blue. But if Sabathia re-ups with the Brewers or signs quickly with another team, I’m willing to bet the Yankees go full-blast for Ramirez.