If you have not heard, third-baseman Miguel Tejada was released from the Baltimore Orioles organization. That being said, his tenure with the Orioles – and perhaps also in major league baseball – is over.
From the Orioles.com: The Orioles granted infielder Miguel Tejada’s request to be released Monday.
Tejada, signed to a Minor League deal on May 8, hit .259 with a .621 OPS in 36 games for Triple-A Norfolk. He went 1-for-4 with a double Monday before the Orioles released him at his request. Tejada played mostly third base with Norfolk and did not hit a home run in his time there.
The 38-year-old former American League MVP was coming off a 2011 season in which he hit .239 with a .596 OPS in 96 games for the Giants, who released him early last September.
Tejada was a productive player for the Orioles; however, his tenure with the team as he was traded to the Houston Astros during the offseason in 2008. Of course, Miguel’s career hit a bumpy road after it was divulged that he was two years older than reported, and then got ensnared with drug use, the legal system, plus having his name sullied.
The Orioles took a chance on a guy (twice) who was a superstar back-in-the-day; however, Tejada is obviously well on the wrong side of thirty, can’t hit with much power anymore, and is a shell of what he used to be.
I commend guys like Tejada for trying to stick around, but Father Time does take over and perhaps is at the end of the road with professional baseball. In addition, I would imagine the Baltimore organization wants to see a younger guy take the reigns at the hot corner at that level of the minors.
Finally, the All-Star game is around the corner, therefore, who are your picks to make the team? Personally, I would think Adam Jones and Jim Johnson are virtual locks to make the squad. I would also add Jason Hammel on the team, and Wei-Yin Chen has an outside chance as well; however, the American League has a lot of worthy candidates who are hurlers.
I would also include Matt Wieters on the ‘maybe’ list, but he has a lot of competition. Mike Napoli of the Rangers leads in voting for catchers, and Chicago’s A.J. Pierzynski is having an incredible year, so Wieters might miss out if the American League doesn’t take three catchers. Perhaps Wieters might make the team if a player gets injured, or is not interested in taking part in the game itself.
The Orioles definitely should have multiple players on the American League All-Star team. If they don’t, there’s a big problem.
