Mark Teixeira (pictured) landed a $180 million payday with the New York Yankees on Tuesday. - Samara Pearlstein/MVN.comIt was on June 5th, 2001 that the Texas Rangers, armed with their first top-five overall pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft since 1989 (which was summarily exhausted on former two-sport college star Donald Harris, an eventual baseball flameout and 12th-round selection of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1992 NFL Draft), tabbed Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira as the top choice in a Rangers draft class that ultimately yielded just one other major league contributor of note: an eccentric California lefty by the name of Christopher John Wilson, chosen exactly 136 picks after arguably the best first-round selection in franchise history.

Less than six months earlier, team owner Tom Hicks had approved the tendering of what was, at the time, a historic 10-year, $252 million contract to free-agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez, ostensibly locking in a future Hall of Famer at a vital position for the next decade. Teixeira nabbed just a fraction of the guaranteed money coming out of the draft ($9.5 million) that Rodriguez secured through superagent Scott Boras months earlier, but eventually emerged as a superstar in his own right, clubbing 153 homers in 693 career games in a Texas uniform and producing a sterling .283/.368/.533 batting line that, to this day, stands as the third-best OPS in franchise history from a hitter with 1,000-plus lifetime at-bats accrued as a Ranger.

Second on that list is Juan Gonzalez. First on that list is Rodriguez. And so how appropriate it was that two of the greatest players to ever don a Rangers uniform would be reunited by the very team that so callously, consistently and methodically extinguished the Rangers' dreams of deep playoff runs during their late-90s spell of relative prosperity.

The Yankees' blockbuster signing of Teixeira to an eight-year, $180 million deal on the eve of Christmas Eve reverberated throughout baseball, but no doubt came as a particular shock to the Nationals and Red Sox, both of whom were believed to be at the forefront of the Teixeira sweepstakes heading into the last 48 hours preceding Christmas. New York did not formally submit their final offer until sometime Tuesday morning, at which point the two sides worked quickly and cooperatively to hammer out an agreement.

While the Angels had withdrawn from the frenzied bidding war last weekend (and will, as a consequence, obtain the Yankees' first-round pick and a supplemental-round pick as compensation for Teixeira's departure, giving them the 25th, 26th, and 33rd picks in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft  in addition to the sandwich pick generated by Francisco Rodriguez's defection to the Mets -- not a bad haul, but it's getting to the point where the Angels' solid run prevention may be threatened by a dearth of offensive firepower), Boston's eight-year, $168 million offer was evidently bested by just $12 million (one can't help but think that news arrived much to the chagrin of Red Sox owner John Henry), and all the talk of Teixeira wanting to come home to his native Maryland as an Oriole or National was just that -- talk. Boras never even permitted the Orioles the opportunity to sweeten their seven-year, $140 million offer, instead opting to inform team president Andy MacPhail on Tuesday afternoon that his client was "going in a different direction."

Teixeira instantly amplifies the Yankees' 2009 record by approximately four wins, which makes this signing a slam dunk from the perspective of New York general manager Brian Cashman. The Rays may well seek to fortify their prestigious standing as reigning American League champions by making a rejuvenated push for one of the free-agent market's more appealing big bats (Milton Bradley or Pat Burrell, in particular), while the jilted Red Sox could turn back to the trade sector for help behind the plate and/or pursue another starting pitcher with the intention of further strengthening a rotation that already boasts Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and the ageless knuckleballing wonder, Tim Wakefield.

Theo Epstein is by no means obligated to counter the influx of well-compensated mercenaries poised to suit up in pinstripes next spring by launching his own retaliatory assault on the market, but it certainly wouldn't shock anybody if he decided to do precisely that, and it's certainly my expectation that the signing of Teixeira will act as a catalyst for the remainder of the free-agent market being aroused to action.

It remains to be seen whether the cash-strapped Rangers will legitimately involve themselves in either of those areas, but one thing does seem assured: the off-season is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

And as for Mark Teixeira -- well, never forget the good times:

[The preceding audio was pulled from the July 18th, 2004 Rangers telecast, chronicling Teixeira's game-winning eighth-inning grand slam against the visiting Blue Jays that secured a three-game weekend sweep and a 2½-game lead over the second-place Athletics. Direct link is available here.]