Tejada hasn’t been an above-average big league hitter since 2009. Image: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

None of this information stopped the Kansas City Royals from inking the 38-year-old Tejada to a minor league contract just before 2012 came to a conclusion. It is unknown whether or not the deal includes an invitation to Spring Training with the big club. Speculation is, however, that the Royals view Tejada as this year’s Yuniesky Betancourt: a low-cost veteran capable of playing shortstop.

Tejada has been playing winter ball and has reportedly been playing well enough that the Miami Marlins had considered signing him early in December to fill their vacancy at third base. Instead, the Fish went with Placido Polanco and Tejada had to settle for the minors deal with the Royals.

No matter how well he’s been doing in the Dominican, it looks like a long-shot that Tejada has anything left as a big league caliber hitter. He caught on with the Orioles in 2012 on a minor league deal but never made it back to the Show. In 151 Triple-A plate appearances, Tejada failed to homer and posted a paltry .296 slugging percentage and .621 OPS.

Kudos for Tejada in not giving up on his career, but this is to the point now that Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez saw at the ends of their career. Former sluggers and MVPs that saw their success fueled by performance enhancing drugs (Ramirez tested positive twice, speculation on Sosa and Tejada) only to decline to rapidly and so completely as they entered their late-30s.

This story will get attention because it’s the Royals and because Tejada was at one point a big name. But there really is nothing much to see here.

Hearing Marlins so unhappy with 3B options, they’ve been checking out Miguel Tejada in winter ball. Also kicked tires on Polanco & Inge.

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) December 19, 2012

Inge was an all-star in 2009, but it’s been downhill ever since. Image: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

If nothing else, this little nugget is interesting to me because my dad and I were just talking the other day about how there has been no mention of Brandon Inge this off-season, despite the incredible lack of third base talent. In a market where Jack Hannahan can get a multi-year contract, one would have expected Inge, who drove in 52 runs in 74 games with the Oakland Athletics last season, could at least get a shot on a big league club.

Of course, given the events of the off-season so far, it may be a stretch to call Miami a big league club.

The idea of signing Tejada borders on crazy. At this point, he doesn’t even have any box office pull remaining, and he’s shown over the past several seasons that he also doesn’t have anything left in the tank as a major league ballplayer. He hooked on for his third tour of duty with the Orioles last season on a minor league deal, but never made it back to the big club.

Polanco, 37, has dealt with multiple injuries over the past few seasons and has seen his production fall off along with his playing time in each of the past two seasons. He may be useful as a reserve bat who can fill-in at second or third, but he’s not likely to make through a full season healthy at this point in his career.

In a market full of bad options, Inge looks like a guy who be the best of the bunch. He’s not young at age 35, but he still has decent pop in his bat and can still play better than average defense at the hot corner. On most clubs I’d say he’s a useful reserve, especially given his ability to play virtually anywhere on the field. With the Marlins, Inge could keep the third base position warm until some of their kids are ready to take over.

Miguel Tejada's attempt to come back to the Majors is over. At least with Baltimore. They granted his release yesterday. (Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE)

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.

For more on the Orioles, be sure to check out Birds Watcher.  

San Francisco began the year with Miguel Tejada as their everyday shortstop.  Giants manager Bruce Bochy has since moved Tejada to third to replace the injured Pablo Sandoval.  Utility man Mike Fontenot has been called on to fill in for Tejada at short.

Rumors have been surrounding the two teams for a while now as many believe the trade pairing makes sense.  The Mets are currently sitting in last place in the NL East and are approaching a crossroad, continue down their current path or blow things up and start anew.

The Mets are in financial trouble, and while Reyes could still be considered young enough to build around, the team does not seem have the payroll flexibility needed to sign the shortstop long term.  Trading Reyes could go a long way in beginning New York’s rebuilding process.

The Giants are coming off of a World Series Championship and seem to have the pitching necessary to challenge for another.  With the pitching carrying the team, San Francisco will be looking for a bat or two to pick up its offense as the trade deadline approaches.  Replacing Fontenot with Reyes would be a big boost for the club.

While this all may make sense on paper, several other factors come into play complicating the matter.  The Giants are not in financial trouble like the Mets, but are currently managing a franchise-record high payroll of about $120 million.  If the Giants are not confidant in their ability to sign Reyes long term, they may not be willing to give up the pieces the Mets deem necessary to obtain the shortstop.

Tim Dierkes at MLBTradeRumors takes a look at the situation in this article, naming some possible players that could come up in future negotiations.

The Giants will be able to preview their possible future investment tonight and Thursday as the team finishes up a three game series in New York.

Sandoval believes the injury occurred while sliding, but team trainers are not as certain.  They speculate the slugger may have fractured a bone in his wrist while taking his cuts at the plate.

While the club has called up AAA third baseman Ryan Rohlinger to fill the vacant roster spot, Bruce Bochy has stated he is looking to use a combination of Miguel Tejada at third and Mike Fontenot at short to fill in for the injured Sandoval.  Bochy lost perhaps his best replacement option in Mark DeRosa last Thursday.

Scoring runs has been an issue all season for San Francisco, who currently ranks 26^th in the majors in that department.  Sandoval was leading the team in batting average and on base percentage, being the only active player hitting over .300 on the offensively anemic club.

San Francisco entered the weekend coming off a series win against the Pirates and looking to continue their climb over the .500 mark against the Washington Nationals.  Instead the team lost 2 of the 3 contests as well as their homerun leader.