LAS VEGAS -- At the moment, in the matchup that could be at the center of all competition in the immediate future of the American League East, Mark Teixeira is 6 for 21, a batting average of .286, against CC Sabathia. Teixeira also has walked three times and struck out seven, with no home runs and one double versus the future Yankees ace.

What is past is not necessarily prelude in this case, but the landscape now has changed considerably in what historically has been baseball's most compelling division. The pieces are beginning to fall into place. The heartbeat of these heretofore dull 2008 winter meetings just accelerated with the news that Sabathia is close to agreeing to a seven-year, $160 million contract with the New York Yankees, clearing the path for what should be a flurry of activity over the next several days and weeks.

Teixeira becomes no more important to the Red Sox now than he was last night, last week, or last month, but only because he was important to begin with. Do not let the Sox fool you. In the last day, baseball sources have confirmed that Teixeira is the apple of Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein's eye and that the club has told at least one agent that their offense could be headed for trouble. In the lobby of the Bellagio resort and casino, there was the belief that Epstein was meeting with Boras late last night.

None of that means a deal is imminent, but it might suggest the intensifying of a process that has been, to use Epstein's word, "stagnant.''

One thing about baseball's offseason, especially in a market with good talent: Do not underestimate the long-term impact of decisions made now. Eight years ago, in a market that has some comparisons to this one, Mike Mussina signed a six-year, $88.5 million contract with the Yankees. Aside from a near doubling of the cost, the major difference between Mussina's signing then and Sabathia's deal now is that the Sox wanted Mussina, too. The eventual ramifications of the Mussina signing were that Manny Ramirez ended up in the heart of the Boston batting order soon thereafter, laying the foundation for most all of the events that took place in the AL East between the start of the 2001 season and the end of this last one.

During that eight-year span, the Yankees (775) and Red Sox (740) won more games than any other teams in baseball. The Sox won the most World Series, two. Ramirez knocked in more runs for Boston (868) than any other player did for any one team in the entire American League, and Mussina won more games (123) than any other pitcher in the AL. Manny and the Moose were at the center of all things baseball during that block of time when the Red Sox and Yankees all but swapped identities, and those changes effectively were forged during a span of several weeks late in 2000.

That same offseason, a time otherwise known as baseball's Winter of Recklessness, the spending otherwise proved fruitless. Alex Rodriguez signed a $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers and was traded less than halfway through the contract. Lefthander Mike Hampton signed an eight-year, $121 million contract that had to be fragmented and sold off in pieces. Ramirez ultimately ended up being traded, too, but he and Mussina were really the only major signings who effectively delivered as advertised through the life of the original contract.

If you think the Red Sox don't need Teixeira now, you're wrong. You couldn't be more so. Earlier this week, when asked whether he had concerns about the Boston offense, Epstein noted that the Sox finished second in the league in runs scored, as any negotiator would do. He made no mention of the trends -- that Ramirez is now gone, that David Ortiz is 33 years old and coming off a wrist injury, that Jason Bay could be a free agent at the end of next season, that they got little production at catcher, that Mike Lowell just had hip surgery, that J.D. Drew's salary continues to outweigh his performance, that the Red Sox might not have a middle-of-the-order hitter in their farm system other than Lars Anderson.

That the one-time daunting Boston lineup thinned out considerably during the postseason (partly as the result of injuries) and the Sox simply did not make opposing pitchers work so hard anymore.

Will the Red Sox get Teixeira? That is hard to say, if only because there is never any way to know just how desperate other clubs may be. By all indications, the Los Angeles Angels want him to return badly and postponed any pursuit of Sabathia until they had a resolution with the slugger. The Washington Nationals also want Teixeira. The Yankees still might, too. What we know for sure is that Teixeira likely will command huge dollars at multiple years, and that the Red Sox probably have a threshold they will not cross.

We also know the Sox have the ability to cross that threshold if they choose because they are sitting on a pile of money.

When the 2008 baseball season ended, the Red Sox were one of the final four teams remaining, taking the Tampa Bay Rays to seven games despite running on fumes. The club's nucleus and farm system generally are in very good shape. Not long after the season, Epstein delivered his eulogy on the 2008 Sox, noting that the competition throughout baseball was stiffening, that the division, in particular, was only getting more challenging. The Rays are going to be factors for years to come, the Yankees were going to spend big, and the Sabathia deal might have been just the first domino to topple.

"These days, if you're not getting younger and more dynamic, you're probably falling behind,'' Epstein said.

In retrospect, that statement was a slight twist to something that always has been true in any spirited competition, specifically the American League East.

If you're not getting better, you're getting worse.