from TSN.ca:

With a new Yankee Stadium on the way, the Yankees just keep on spending to put the best possible team on the field.

According to a report on ESPN.com, the New York Yankees have signed coveted free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira to an eight-year contract worth $180-million.

Teixeira, 28, had 33 home runs, 121 RBI and a .308 batting average with the Angels in 2008.  In six major league seasons, with the Rangers, Braves and Angels, Teixeira has slugged 203 homers and 676 RBI while batting .290.

Reports had the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals both as finalists, after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Baltimore Orioles had bowed out, in the Teixeira sweepstakes before the Yankees, apparently, swooped in at the last minute.

“We would have loved to have had the player, who appealled to us because of the special circumstances of where he’s from and where we are. We diverted from our plan to try to get him,” Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told the Associated Press. “But at the end of the day, it was just too much to pay for one player.

“It would handicap our ability to go forward.”

If this deal is completed, the Yankees will have the four highest-paid players in baseball, with Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and C.C. Sabathia joined by Teixeira.

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