Thoughts on the signing of Tejada

I attended the Orioles FanFest today, and took part in the Blogger Forum.

We were asked to provide our thoughts on the signing of Miguel Tejada. To me it was not overly surprising. I said back in July (http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/search/label/Fact%20and%20Opinion) that I thought there was chance you could see Tejada return to the Orange & Black for 2010.

Once it was announced that the O's were looking at Atkins as taking over 1st instead of 3rd, it became fully apparent the options for 3rd consisted of Tejada or Crede. If those are the options, Tejada wins everytime.

I will not say it was my preference. I had spent all Winter believing the best course of action for the Birds was putting Scott at 1st and giving him a couple hundred at-bats while Snyder gained additional time at AAA. With Scott at 1st, you could have allowed Reimold to shift to DH while he further recovered from his Achilles surgery. This would have opened up LF for Pie, which I see as a positive.

Besides Pie getting regular playing-time, the added benefit would have been that Atkins, and Scott would be easier to replace with Bell, and Snyder if you wanted to make those moves around June 1st.

When you sign a Tejada, you are signing-up for a player that will figure to play 150 games in 2010. That means you can book Bell to an extended stay in Norfolk, unless Tejada is injured, or Izturis is injured; and Tejada shifts back to SS.

I believe all of that is valid discussion. However, the only thing that matters at this point is that Tejada improves the 2010 O's. (Though I will continue to believe, the O's would be better off with Tejada replacing Izturis at SS, vs. taking over 3rd. Especially with the benefit of having Izturis available as a defensive replacement off the bench) With a 1 year deal, it is certainly not something to cry about either way. His right-handed bat will help balance out the lineup, and gives the team some extra-bite. The lineup is pretty deep, and having Pie and Wigginton available off the bench is another sign of that.

I think the definitive statement of the day regarding the Tejada signing belongs to Brian Roberts, who labeled Tejada as one his five favorite all-time teammates. That should mean a lot to everyone. The theme of the day at FanFest was that it is time to win some games. The signing of Tejada will help achieve that in 2010.