The Baltimore Orioles traded All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros Wednesday for five players. Tejada, who has been sort of an Iron man of this generation, leaves Baltimore after a four-year stint with team.He joins an Astros team who has been down the last few seasons, but maybe adding a talented hitter and fielder like Tejada will provide a boost. Houston gave up a lot of players in the deal. They include outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patten and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo.
This a great pickup for Houston, which is looking to rebound after two disappointing seasons in a row following a World Series appearance in 2005. They have a decent starting staff behing coveted ace Roy Oswalt and have talented youth in Wandy Rodriguez. They did trade Luke Scott, who was a starter a year ago, but the other four names I've never heard of.
I can't see the Astros competing this year for the division unless they start making some serious deals during the offseason. They gave up on Phil Garner as their manager even though he led them to a World Series two years ago for the first time in franchise history! Now they are trying to build this team back up again, and it's not a bad idea to bring Tejada on board.
As for the Orioles, what can I say? The team hasn't been in the postseason since they lost to Cleveland in 1997. They have been near or at the bottom of the standings for over a decade. The team has had to deal with the Raphael Palmeiro steroid problem and now they've traded arguably their best player since Cal Ripken Jr.
Tampa Bay might pass them next season and that's sad. Fortunately for Tejada, he won't have to be a part of it. However, the team he was traded to isn't that great either.
Shawn Marosek
1 comment:
Look for Tejada to be on the Mitchell list tomorrow. It would not shock me one bit. His numbers have been in a decline for sometime. I wouldn't want him, but its a good sign that the Astros are at least trying to compete. Five players for Tejada though, WOW! We'll see how it works out with Kaz and Tejada as the double play combo.
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