Mrs. Teixeira made the call

Apparently Mark Teixeira’s wife made the call on signing with the Yankees:

Thirteen days before Christmas, Mark Teixeira, the Yankees’ $180 million man, was having dinner with his wife, Leigh, when he pleaded with her for insight about the future. If everything was equal among Teixeira’s suitors, he said, where would she rather see him play? Leigh admitted to preferring the Yankees . . .

. . . Leigh’s feelings regarding the Yankees had not been publicized until Tuesday, and the Red Sox may wonder if they had a serious chance to sign Teixeira. Boras dismissed the notion that the Red Sox were misled and said part of the free-agent process included teams sometimes charging that they were “strung along.” . . . Boras acknowledged that Leigh’s opinion about the Yankees “was the deciding factor” for Teixeira, but he said her most definitive remarks were offered at the end of the process.

I said yesterday that I don’t think that these “introduce the new player” press conferences have any value, and this is one of the reasons. I suppose it’s entirely possible that Leigh Teixeira was the driving force behind the Yankees landing their new slugger. I suppose that to some it might even matter. I also suppose, however, that if I wanted to change the subject from a contentious negotiation with the Red Sox and a media firestorm about the size of my contract in these tough economic times that I might float the story that my wife made the call so I don’t look so damn mercenary about it. A new angle on Mike Hampton’s “I’m signing with the Rockies because the schools in Denver are good” if you will.