Miguel Tejada Keeps Hope Alive That Guillen May Be Traded
by Freneau on Jul 30, 2010 1:23 PM EDT
in Kansas City Royals News
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PrintThe Padres traded for Miguel Tejada yesterday. Tejada is old and can't hit. That's not your typical blogger hyperbole, it's the truth. Here's Miguel's triple slash line for 2010: .269/.308/.362
Sure, the Padres have had their troubles scoring runs and yes Tejada can play in the infield... but damn, how's he gonna hit in Petco now? We can even add in the fact that the Orioles tossed the Padres $1.1 million bucks, and note that the player they got back isn't all that interesting, and it's still a fairly baffling move. It doesn't matter if what you're buying is really cheap if the item is useless.
One of the better explanations I saw came on Twitter, where Jeff Sullivan said the move was simply an attempt to fire up the clubhouse, which could work because baseball players are actually kinda dumb and are too busy playing the game to actually know what's currently going on. OK, he didn't say it in that many words, but you know what I mean.
(Side note: do you just completely lose contact with your normal intake of news/sports when you travel? Imagine if you spent your entire life traveling? And, when you weren't traveling, you had tons of money and also had to be doing celebrity type things? Would you have any idea even what team Miguel Tejada was on? I wouldn't.)
So anyway, all of this is just meant to say, maybe Guillen will be traded after all. Don't take this as another anti-Moore rant or a personal attack on Guillen, because it's not. I think. I just... want him ... gone. I'm tired of watching Jose Guillen play baseball. I could barely stand Pods, and he was only around for 60% of a season. I often hear people talk about how free agency has hurt the fans because players always move around and blah blah blah. I feel the opposite. I like new things. ("Culture of instant gratification!" scream Hillman/Moore)
By the time Buck and Teahen were playing their last year here, there was a vocal segment of the fanbase that seemed to just irrationally hate those guys. I didn't agree with that sentiment, but I understood it. You get tired of seeing the same at-bat rituals, the same facial expressions, the same kind of results. You go crazy into thinking that you can predict what's going to happen, or that really and truly they do the same thing every time.
Anyway, that's where I'm at with Jose. Next, please.
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The iPad
That’s who the iPad was invented for..
“(Side note: do you just completely lose contact with your normal intake of news/sports when you travel? Imagine if you spent your entire life traveling? And, when you weren’t traveling, you had tons of money and also had to be doing celebrity type things? Would you have any idea even what team Miguel Tejeda was on? I wouldn’t.)”
I guess
but for me it’s more of a routine thing
I wonder if they let the players be on the phone/net on their charter flights?
definitely
www.writersjunction.com
in Santa Monica, CA
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 30, 2010 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
hahaha
(whoops, shouldn’t have laughed)
www.writersjunction.com
in Santa Monica, CA
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 30, 2010 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions
A friend who travels with a team sometimes
gets really frustrated with commercial flights where he has to turn everything off, wear a seatbelt, etc. He’s seen the good life and has lived to regret it (maybe).
www.writersjunction.com
in Santa Monica, CA
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 30, 2010 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Internet
I heard Frank say on the broadcast last night that the players have individual internet connections (not wireless?, really?) at their lockers.
Of course I also heard Frank say that Kendall has been a great #2 hitter and that Rick Ankiel is “graceful” in CF so… (bangs head against desk).
"Greinke and the Brain" (R) (C) TM
by SittinByTheFoulPole on Jul 30, 2010 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions
If it were my field in my career I think I'd know.
Or I’d like to think I’d know.
What else do they have to do during all that down time while traveling? Answer fan mail? Maybe not be an expert, but at least have a fair idea of general trends. And if the dude were traded to my team I’d sure go look it up.
And I would definitely have an iPad. And a few other things I’ll think of in a minute.
so they look up his BA, HR, and RBI
we also have pretty good anecdotal evidence that players are much more prone to respecting veterans and assuming they have maintained certain abilities
What else do they have to do during all that down time while traveling?
Gamble/play cards, drink, arrange their groupies for the next city, talk to their accountants and investment advisors, play video games, talk to their agents, maybe call their wives and talk to their kids (if applicable), find new ways to make fun of each other, come up with new clubhouse/dugout pranks, devise new and complex high-five/fist-bump oriented dugout celebration rituals, sign autographs/take pictures with fans. It’s a demanding profession.
"Never get less than 12 hours sleep. Never play cards with a guy who's got the same first name as as city. And never go near a lady who's got a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick with that, and everything else is cream cheese." -Coach Bobby Finstock
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 30, 2010 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Holy jeez. I guess I'm not creative enough.
I’d be bored out of my mind and also disinclined to talk to anyone because I’d be so sick of them. Escaping into my (fictional) iPad sounds glorious. Heck – that’s why I’m here instead of out doing stuff right now.
Isn't it Tejada with an a?
You say Tejeda, I say Tejada, you say potata, I say potota…
by jackie ballgame on Jul 30, 2010 1:40 PM EDT reply actions
It's Miguel TejAda
and Robinson TejEda.
Maybe Juancho can explain the significance of the one-letter difference in espanol.
"Never get less than 12 hours sleep. Never play cards with a guy who's got the same first name as as city. And never go near a lady who's got a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick with that, and everything else is cream cheese." -Coach Bobby Finstock
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 30, 2010 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Nope
Pronounced differently, too. Or should be, at least.
Tejada = teh-HAH-dah
Tejeda = teh-HEH-dah
Just like Roman (ro-MAHN) Colon was not Ramon (ra-MOAN) (which is probably the more common first name).
"Never get less than 12 hours sleep. Never play cards with a guy who's got the same first name as as city. And never go near a lady who's got a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick with that, and everything else is cream cheese." -Coach Bobby Finstock
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 30, 2010 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions
You are all wrong.
Miguel Tejada actually is Miguel Tejeda. So I think either spelling is ok.
From wikipedia:
Age
On April 17, 2008, Tejada was confronted by an ESPN reporter during a sit-down interview with documentation revealing that Tejada had been lying about his age ever since he first signed a Major League Baseball contract in 1993. Tejada had claimed to have been born in 1976 when a Dominican birth certificate showed that he was born in 1974. That birth certificate also shows the spelling of his surname as “Tejeda” rather than “Tejada”. 1421 Tejada stormed off the set, effectively ending the interview.
Touche
I had heard about his birth certificate controversy a while back, but I had no idea it featured the “Tejeda” spelling.
Tejada does exist as a legitimate surname, though. See Tejada, Ruben. Unless they had a special going on with forged “Tejada” birth certificates. Ruben is Panamanian, not Dominican, though.
"Never get less than 12 hours sleep. Never play cards with a guy who's got the same first name as as city. And never go near a lady who's got a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick with that, and everything else is cream cheese." -Coach Bobby Finstock
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 30, 2010 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions
I've heard 'em both
There are four persons surnamed Tejeda, as well as three towns in Spain and one in Mexico with that name, on Spanish Wikipedia. There’s one surnamed Tejada, as well as four towns in Spain. None of these people are baseball players, by the way.
"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" - Unfortunate cricket commentator
Possible origens for the names
“Teja” is a roof tile, and “tejado” is roof. “Tejer” is to weave, and “tejido” is cloth.
"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" - Unfortunate cricket commentator
interesting
change it back, Will!
www.writersjunction.com
in Santa Monica, CA
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 30, 2010 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Tejeda
I actually did not realize he was still playing until I saw his name in trade rumors. Same with Jason Giambi before he hit a game winner a month ago.
I figured all the juice heads just went in a corner and died, or made there way onto Jersey Shore with a camio role.
This is without constant travel and more of the exact opposite of that life.
We should come up with an all time Royals list for these kinds of players
The All Time “Veteran-Who-Used-To-Be-A-Somewhat-Useful-Major-League-Player-Who-Had-Some-Degree-of-Name-Recognition-For-the-Casual-Baseball-Fan-But-Is-Now-Declining-And-Is-A-Hilariously-Useless-Addition-to-A-Really-Bad-Royals-Team” List.
Kevin McReynolds
Juan Gonzalez
Benito Santiago
Reggie Sanders
Jose Guillen
Scott Podsednik
Scott Elarton (not enough name recognition for this list?)
For just a few examples. The list is long. Maybe we should come up with an all time team—a guy for each position.
by jackie ballgame on Jul 30, 2010 1:49 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Wally Joyner.
Let's just trust the process.
by trusttheprocess on Jul 30, 2010 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Wally was a fairly good player as I recall
"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" - Unfortunate cricket commentator
I’m not sure the 1994 squad should be considered a “really bad Royals team”, but that’s just a nit.
I thought my life as a fan peaked in October 1985. Then came Howard to Donovan to Altidore to Dempsey to Donovan to NET!
by chiefstatnut on Jul 30, 2010 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions
(in response to BHWick and trust the process)
by chiefstatnut on Jul 30, 2010 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
1994 was a good season
The Royals were only about three games out at the time of the strike and had played well against Chicago and Cleveland. Cone won the Cy Young and Hamelin was Rookie of the Year. There’s a good chance the Royals could have won the AL Central that year. Definitely my favorite season of the past 20 years.
Covelli might qualify, if name recognition can result more from a cereal than exploits.
by chiefstatnut on Jul 30, 2010 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Kirk Gibson
Gaylord Perry (though that was a good team)
Let's just trust the process.
by trusttheprocess on Jul 30, 2010 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions
rec'd for the awesome player title
you had me at “Is-A-Hilariously-Useless-Addition”
www.writersjunction.com
in Santa Monica, CA
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 30, 2010 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Kirk Gibson was the first name I thought of
Terry Pendleton
Hal Morris
Vida Blue
Harmon Killebrew
Orlando Cepeda
George Scott
Mike McCormick
Gaylord Perry
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
The Greatest Twin
And most obscure Royal.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Jul 30, 2010 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Octavio Dotel
Ned likes Kendall in the 2-hole!
by mitchfreakingmaier! on Jul 30, 2010 6:53 PM EDT up reply actions
My fear
They can’t trade Guillen, then they (still) don’t have the stomach to admit they were wrong and simply release him.
I actually believed Moore when he said Kila needs to come up and there is now room for him to get ABs (I’m paraphrasing a bit) – BUT (and it’s a big but), I really don’t want Guillen either sitting on the bench sulking, while Kila looks over his shoulder. I really don’t want Yost to even be TEMPTED to platoon Guillen with Kila, or to sit Kila if he struggles for a week, etc. I really don’t want the alternative plan of playing Guillen in RF, if it’s at the expense of Maier ABs.
So, yeah – trade him, or release him. Nothing else makes sense. I suppose one could argue that he would clear waivers, so the real deadline is Aug 31st, but for the reasons I state above – NO NO NO. Trade him or release him by tomorrow.
"We're gonna win with pitching and defense" General Manager Dayton Moore, circa winter 2009
"Where did all these Indians come from?" General George Armstrong Custer, circa summer 1876
by loyal2sdad on Jul 30, 2010 1:51 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
If they don't trade him
by tomorrow, they’ll keep him around and pass him through waivers and keep trying until the end of August. At which time Kila can come up for meaningless September at bats anyway…
Hey Will:
why the critical spirit?
"Shot by my own men."
by StonewallPDS on Jul 30, 2010 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Great question.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball...Rock Chalk Talk
Don't forget that one could argue he is slightly overpaid too...
"Shot by my own men."
by StonewallPDS on Jul 30, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I felt that Santiago was a bigger bust.
At least Beltran gives Gonzales credit for the hitting work they did together at spring training that year. Beltran came out raking.
Ned likes Kendall in the 2-hole!
by mitchfreakingmaier! on Jul 30, 2010 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions
If Santiago hadn't been hit by a pitch...
He was having a decent season until the injury. Much better than anything we ever saw out of Buck.
That's a little harsh.
Will does a good job running this blog and hardly ever attacks the posters. And I’ve never seen him play baseball.
by BrRoyal on Jul 30, 2010 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 4 recs
I am traveling and until I read this
I apparently did not know who Miggie was playing for!
"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell
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