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.