Jeff Zrebiec, who does a fine job covering the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun, has a thorough dissection of the Miguel Tejada situation. To sum it up:
- The general sentiment within the organization seems to be that Tejada has slipped significantly on defense. There’s talk of moving him to third base and Melvin Mora back to the outfield. It seems that Tejada would be open to this. As we saw with Alfonso Soriano, he really doesn’t have a choice.
- Zrebiec says that trade rumors will again swirl around Tejada this winter. He didn’t want to move to third base for the Angels; has anything changed? Tejada again has no choice here because he does not have a no-trade clause. He makes $13MM in ’08 and the same in ’09.
- Tejada’s OPS is down to.800, lowest it’s been since ’03. It’s high time to trade him; Zrebiec talked to some execs who think the Orioles can still get two high-ceiling prospects.
- If the Orioles want Tejada at third, I imagine an acquiring team would too. Conveniently, the free agent market for 3Bs is weak beyond A-Rod and Lowell. The Tigers, Twins, Angels, Phillies, Astros, Brewers (Braun to left), Dodgers, Giants, or Diamondbacks could look to use him there. The Cubs and White Sox seem more likely to try him at shortstop. Tons of options here.
