Miguel Tejada: Back In the Saddle
As noted by Miles in the comments on the last post, Jeff Zrebiec (I think he was first, not sure) is reporting that the Orioles have re-signed Miguel Tejada. Pending a physical, natch. Terms have not been disclosed.
The assumption is that he’ll be the starter at third base — at least to open the season — while Garrett Atkins will get the nod at first. You’d figure, then, that Ty Wigginton will be the primary backup at the corners while Luke Scott will be the primary DH.
I need some time to mull that over before I decide if I like it. One thing I will say: I don’t hate it.
Programming Note: don’t forget that I’ll be at FanFest later today participating in the “Blogging the Birds” panel. 5 pm on the main stage.
And, oh yeah: how long until some dim bulb declares that the Orioles botched the Tejada signing by not having it done in time for him to appear at FanFest? You know it’s coming.
I don’t hate it, either, I guess. But it does make me hate the Atkins signing more, if that makes any sense. Not sure what Garret is supposed to bring to the party any longer.
Anyway, it’s fun to have Miggy back at the very least.
One thing I had not considered is that Miggy opens up a spot for another infielder or outfielder– a spot vacated by Robert Andino, who seems redundant at this point.
That’s weird.
I posted something about Tejada and it’s gone.
Deleted.
Wow.
@Greg – Not sure what you mean. Adding Tejada means Mike Aubrey is pretty much gone from the roster. The bench should look something like Wigginton, Turner/Andino, Pie, and Moeller to go with a 12 man pitching staff and the 9 regulars.
As you all know, I take the concept of deleting a comment very seriously. It has only ever happened here one time. If it were to happen again, I’d do what I did then: say publicly that I did it and explain why.
No comments have been deleted today, and none were accidentally caught in the spam filter. Period.
If you leave a comment and it doesn’t show up it either got held in the filter or you experienced some kind of software failure. Those are the only two possible explanations. Any suggestion otherwise is absolutely untrue. I have never and will never delete a comment without explanation.
it would be kind of funny if the all this time the orioles were writing drew back and his computer was just having software failure.
It went like this:
Maybe the O’s should have Tejada pledge under oath to actually run out every ground ball this time around.
Then again, maybe the “pledge under oath” thing isn’t such a good idea with Miggy.
I have no idea what happened to the original comment.
But it was there. For a while, anyway.
I’ll buy the “software glitch” or whatever it’s called.
And Neal, I applaud you for taking the posting of comments seriously and I applaud your track record of not deleting anyone’s comments.
You, apparently, still understand the value of allowing people to have an opinion.
Too bad some *friends* at the Warehouse don’t subscribe to the same values.
Obviously, what I said above does not apply to Eastern European spammers attempting to get us interested in bootleg Nikes. Those ones do get deleted.
Let those through man, I been had been interested in Bootleg Nikes. And Reebok pumps. I propose that for the second time around instead of Miggy we call him Miggles. I may have had too many glasses of chardonnay though.
Hi Neil,
Enjoyed the forum, though I had hoped for more O’s related questions. Ah well, good exposure either way.
Wishing you continued success.
Cheers,
Chris
This is fun news, and I think that’s about where I stand on it.
We all criticized Miggles (I’m down for that, by the way, George) when it was clear his lack of effort sort of evaporated. But I’m not sure any of us though he was a bad player or a bad teammate (Raffy speculation aside). Hopefully knowing that he’s on a one-year deal and back with some familiar teammates and that he’s no longer The Man will help keep him in line. His jogging to 1B thing should get lost in a line-up of young guys that generally hustle, in my opinion.
Plus, hey, he gives Nick some protection, he’ll move runners over, and he makes Andino redundant, paving the way for somebody with some more upside like Turner or even Moore, who I still think is a decent player if he can stay healthy.
More than anything, though, I just sort of dig the vibe of this move, if I may be vague for a moment. What I mean is, Andy MacPhail is basically taking a risk of losing some defense for some offense, and that’s not really his style. But just for the fact that he’s willing to move away from his status quo and take a risk is something I like. Sure Crede would play better defense and take a back seat to Bell, but he’s boring. Miggles is at least a good storyline, right? Not only will it just make me chuckle seeing him back on the team, but it will be interesting to see how he does on the hot corner and how much energy he brings to the team (if not to the 1st base line).
It’s not often that the O’s bring back players, and we might have two of them back before the season starts, at our price, on our terms, in lesser roles for each guy, which I think keeps these moves from being bad decisions.
On another note, Neal sorry I couldn’t make Fan Fest, but I hope you put up a post about it and share some stories.
And that was hilarious.
Woops… that should say “when his effort sort of evaportated”, not “his lack of effort”… it’s late..
@Andrew – I would think adding Tejada eliminates Andino because you don\’t need to carry a third shortstop. Tejada could start at third, backup short. Atkins slides to third, and Wiggy/Aubrey plays 1B.
Does anyone know if there is a college shortstop with big upside coming out in the draft this year. I would like to see O’s go this direction if the upside is high enough to make a first or second round pick worthwhile.
@dan the man – You said a lot of things of things there, but this much is an undeniable fact: Joe Crede’s total package is not as good as Tejada’s. His defense is better but Miggle’s bat makes up for it (or maybe Crede’s bat fails up for it). So I’m glad that MacPhail at least took the better option (even though we’re going to have to suffer through Atkins at first for at least two months…sigh…)
@Ballmer Bruce – The Orioles will most likely take a pitcher in the first round, unless a position player moves up the charts during the season. They also don’t have their second round pick, so I doubt we’re going to be looking at anyone better than Givens (who we already have) by the time they pick again in the third round.
@Greg – Aubrey can only play first base, and having just a backup first baseman doesn’t make any sense. I do agree though that Andino is probably done with the Orioles, but only because Justin Turner is a better option.
@Andrew – Aubrey may be done too, who knows. Having Wigginton and Atkins makes him redundant. Turner would make more sense. So would Scott Moore, if you really think about it.