Just when it seems as if free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira was about to be sworn in as a member of Red Sox Nation, it now seams increasingly likely that Teixeira won’t be playing in Boston next season. Late Thursday night, after a meeting with Teixeira and his agent Scott Boras, Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry declared that the Sox were out of the running for the switch-hitting first baseman.

“We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him,” Henry wrote in an email. “After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor.”

It was a stunning turn of events, as it appeared as if the Red Sox were on the verge of signing the the 28-year-old slugger. In fact, the Los Angeles Angels fansite, Halos Heaven, even announced that Teixeira had signed a deal with Boston. However, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and general manager Theo Epstein were told by Boras that Teixeira had received an offer from another club better than the one they had presented.

Could that club be the Angels? Or is Boras simply bluffing?

The Red Sox likely feel that Teixeira doesn’t really want to play far away from his hometown in Southern California and would be unlikely to sign with the perennially mediocre Baltimore and Washington ballclubs. With those teams “out of the running,” Boston appears to be the perfect fit, as they are the East Coast team that is a consistent winner. Therefore, Henry and co. may feel that they have some wiggle room in a potential deal for Teixeira.

As the Angels desperately look for ways to bring back their slugging first baseman, they can only hope that the Red Sox were serious when they took themselves out of the Teixeira sweepstakes and not simply bluffing.

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