There’s an old baseball adage that goes something like this: Sometimes, the best trades are the ones you don’t make. The operative word there is “sometimes.”
When Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada was pursued last summer by the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros, a deal was very close. After the dust settled, though, Tejada was still an Oriole, and the old “sometimes” saying was in full bloom for a few weeks.
That a deal wasn’t made then was probably due to a host of factors, but the most probable bottom line was that the Orioles simply wanted more than they were being offered. At the age of 30, Tejada was considered to be in the prime of his career. He was an All-Star shortstop with power who was in the lineup day in and day out, which seemed like a pretty familiar script for fans in Baltimore.
The Angels? offer was rumored to include pitcher Ervin Santana, infielder Erick Aybar and another prospect, and it was that third name in the deal that reportedly became the deal-breaker. The Houston deal would have included pitcher Roy Oswalt, whom the Orioles would have moved to the Texas Rangers, and it was that unspoken part of the swap that caused Astros owner Drayton McLane to back away. Tejada stayed and finished 2006 with a career-high .330 average, to go along with 24 home runs and 100 RBI.
Assuming for the moment that Tejada drew at least some interest in the offseason, it’s also probably fair to assume that the asking price would have been no less than it had been at the 2006 trading deadline. He was going to be an Oriole in 2007 come heck or high water, and was reasonably expected he would provide an encore to last year’s offensive production.
After playing a quarter of the season, Tejada is back among the league leaders. He’s in the top five for singles in the American League. I can’t say for sure, but if there’s a ranking for right-handed hitters singling into right field, he’s probably No. 1 in that category.
Last year, several big league scouts expressed to me their opinion that Tejada had lost considerable bat speed ? hence those singles to right ? as well as range in the field. A couple of weeks ago, he was quoted as saying that he was actually trying to go to right field, in order to be a more complete hitter. I don’t think that’s what the Orioles had in mind when they signed him to a six-year, $72 million contract.
They wanted a power bat, someone who could pull the ball into the left-field stands at Camden Yards. Tejada’s power numbers are way down this year. While he’s still hitting .300, he’s only slugging a hair over .370, eighth on the team among players with 100 at-bats.
Nothing personal in any of this ? I’m sure Miguel Tejada is a fine fellow. I’ve been tough on him at times for his propensity not to hustle down the first-base line on routine groundballs, but he’s certainly not the only guy who does that. I strongly suspect, however, that behind closed doors, the Orioles regret not moving him last summer. He has two more seasons on his contract after this year, and that’s a pretty big chunk of payroll for a singles-hitting shortstop with diminishing range who doesn’t steal bases.
Contact Phil Wood at [email protected].
