Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Some buzz about Miguel Tejada lately. There's been buzz before, and I think both teams' managements were inches away from a deal last off-season, but it didn't get done. I wanted it then, and I want it now. Here's why:

1) Tejada is awesome. He leads the Orioles in AVG, HR, RBI and R (.323/18/69/68). He is superb defensively, and supposedly is a great team leader in the dugout. Remember his days with the A's, when he'd be on the front row of the dugout, waving his teammates home and cheering like mad? We could use some of that. He won the 2002 MVP with his heart. Plus clutch hitting during Oakland's 20-game winning streak.

2) Adam Everett is the bane of my existence.

3) The trade pieces — specifically the prospects — aren't necessarily All-stars. Yes, it is very nice to have a plethora of talent in the farm system, but sometimes they don't pan out. Hunter Pence looks awesome right now, but it's not a sure thing that he'll slug in the majors, which Tejada has proven he can do. We have a ton of pitching prospects, so giving up one of: Nieve, Albers, Patton, Hirsh won't hurt us too bad. Don't know why they'd want Lidge (although he'd do well working with Mazzone there), but he is expendable.

4) The NL is just waiting for another team to emerge. The Mets are very good, and the Cardinals have Pujols and Carpenter. Thankfully, two other teams get into the playoffs, and we should realize how close we are from making it there. We're only 5 games out of the Wild Card, with a big series this week against the WC-leading Reds. If we win 2 of 3 against Cincy, and 2 of 3 against the D-Backs at home, we're 3 games under .500 and probably only 3 or 4 back of the Wild Card.

5) Here's why: 2B Biggio, CF Burke, RF Berkman, SS Tejada, LF Huff, 3B Ensberg, 1B Lamb, C Ausmus. Holy crap.

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