Baltimore Orioles Release Miguel Tejada

Miguel Tejada‘s didn’t think his attempt to return to the Major Leagues could be fulfilled with the Orioles, so

he asked for his release. Yesterday, the Orioles granted that release of Tejada from his minor league contract. The veteran infielder hit just .259 in 36 games for Triple-A Norfolk.  He was hoping for another shot after the Giants released him in the summer of last year.

Tejada is 38 years old and has seen his numbers continue to slide since 2009.  Last year with the Giants, Tejada played 93 games and hit .239/.270/.326 with four home runs.  In his career, though, he has been productive.  Over the course of 15 Major League seasons, Tejada has hit .285/.336/.457 with 304 home runs.  He was the American League MVP in 2002 with the Oakland A’s.

In addition to his slumping numbers due to age, Tejada has a controversial history.  He was linked to steroids but told Congress he never took any PEDs.  However, in 2009 Tejada was convicted of lying to Congress after admitting to buying human growth hormone.  A year earlier, he admitted he lied about his age when he originally came to the United States.  He signed with the A’s in 1993 and told the club he was 17 at the time.  He was actually 19.

These types of controversies coupled with Tejada’s low numbers may scare teams off.  He’ll likely get another minor league contract somewhere, but his shot at cracking the 25-man roster for any team is slim.  The Giants were so convinced that Tejada was part of their problem last year that they simply cut him and ate the rest of the $6.5 million they were paying him.  Should he get a shot with a Major League club it will likely come at the hands of injury openings.  At this point in his career, Tejada is not necessarily an upgrade at any position.

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