Teixeira: Yankees deal was done when wife spoke up

(NECN) - Red Sox Nation, you have a new person to hate. Once Mark Teixeira's wife spoke up, the Red Sox were out of the running, even though the club spent another week and a half trying to convince Teixeira to come to Boston.

In his first news conference as a member of the New York Yankees, Mark Teixeira told reporters that his mind was made up basically two weeks before Christmas, when he asked his wife where he should sign.

"I had been asking her for weeks and weeks," Teixiera said, "And finally she said, 'I want you to be a Yankee.' So that's when it was done, and once we got the contract figured out it was a no-brainer."

That was long before the first baseman reached an agreement with New York for an 8-year contract, but at that point, any effort the Boston Red Sox or anyone else could make was moot. Teixeira also told reporters that the old Yankee Stadium was his favorite ballpark to visit during his time in Texas, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

"In the back of my mind, the Yankees were always the top," he said. "And like I said, once (my wife) said 'I want you to be a Yankee, it was a done deal."

Teixeira was the third piece of a spending spree that cost the team $422 million but landed them Teixeira and pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.