Teixeira afraid of winning

After much speculation and many teams tiring of Scott Boras' act, Mark Teixeira has opted for the money over the chance to win in Boston or the challenge of trying to build a winner in Washington.

I was a bit surprised, but it's probably a smart move by the Yankees - even thought it's short-sighted and reverts to their oh-so-successful ways of buying players for a championship that never happens.

You can buy talent, but not the heart of a champion. And champions are crowned in October (November next year), not December.

The Yankees have spent billions since 2001 pursuing a World Series victory attained by the Diamondbacks, Angels, Marlins, Red Sox (twice), White Sox, Cardinals and Phillies. This signing doesn't make me think anything will change:

Teixeira's salary gives the Yankees, who are preparing to move into their $1.3 billion new ballpark in April, the four highest-paid players in Major League Baseball: himself, Sabathia, third baseman Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275 million) and shortstop Derek Jeter(10 years, $189 million).

"From the moment we arrived in Boston in late 2001, we saw it as a monumental challenge," team owner John Henry said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We sought to reduce the financial gap and succeeded to a degree. Now with a new stadium filled with revenue opportunities, they have leaped away from us again. So we have to be even more careful in deploying our resources."

But the Red Sox still have the smarter ownership and better farm system.