Unless you’ve been under a rock or out of the country for the past 24 hours, most know by now that the Orioles have re-signed Miguel Tejada to a one-year, $6 million deal with incentives.
Obviously, since the Orioles have Cesar Izturis at shortstop, Miguel Tejada will more than likely play third base.
As most remember, when he was with in Baltimore during his first stint, he objected to a position change and considered himself to be a viable major league shortstop; however, during the past few years with the Astros, his range – according to most scouts – had slipped.
Amazingly, he was still available into late January – a shocker to me; however, the trend over the past few years (especially with the decrease of steroid use in the game), teams are avoiding older players in favor of younger ones. That being said, the Orioles had a need, Tejada needed a job and both sides came to an agreement.
It will be interesting to see how Tejada does at third, considering he’s been a major league shortstop for his entire career. I know he played third at the World Baseball Classic in 2009, but never for an extended period of time.
The good thing with Tejada is the the bat is still there. Although he’s not the same player that he was when he first signed with Baltimore, he did hit .313 last year with 14 homers and 46 doubles. Then again, keep in mind he played half his games in Houston’s Minute Maid Park – a hitter’s haven.
His numbers at the plate have dipped in the past few years, but he’s been durable and can produce at the plate.
Over the past few days, I’ve been reading pretty much all the blogs, plus news sites for varying opinions of Teajda. Some like him and his bat, some are indifferent, some think he was a great teammate, while some just didn’t care for him to ever return to Baltimore.
Considering what was left on the market at third and first base, signing Tejada for one year will not be a death knell for the Orioles; in fact, it could only help the offense. Baltimore needs all the offensive firepower it can get considering they play in AL East, and Tejada’s signing will hopefully fortify a lineup with a lot of youth, but amazing potential.
Really, I know a lot of people have criticized Tejada for his drug use, his sometimes apathetic nature, some of his lies, but from what I saw out of him in Baltimore, he’s a man – much like the departed Mora – with a sense of immense pride.
I can also mention he’s been through a lot with his trial for perjury, the age thing, scrunity into his drug use and also the death of his brother; therefore, it might be safe to assume he’s a far different person than he was a few seasons ago. The Orioles are a different organization now, and perhaps the infusion of youth will embolden Tejada to be a spark for everyone.
Although a lot of people want the youngsters down on the farm (mainly Josh Bell or Brandon Snyder) to promoted up the majors sooner rather than later.
As we can pretty much predict, Josh Bell will be brought up to Baltimore when his performance down in the minors justifies a promotion — much like with Matt Wieters. Tejada may not be a bad choice to fill in as a stop-gap measure until either one is ready to play in the majors.
Let’s remember, Andy MacPhail did get five players for Teajda. Maybe if Tejada has a good first half in ’10 and the Orioles struggle, he could be flipped – again – for more talent.
Again, all things considered, I really don’t see much harm in signing Tejada. I am a tad confused why Garrett Atkins more than likely won’t be the everyday third baseman; however, hearing the reaction from fome of the guys he played with in his first tour in Baltimore, maybe the team made the right decision this time around.
I’ll get around to what the other bloggers and websites have said about the Tejada deal later on this afternoon, this evening or on Monday…
