Miguel Tejada Reportedly Drawing Interest From Padres, Cardinals, Giants

by Pat Lackey

Filed under: Cardinals, Giants, Padres, MLB Rumors, MLB Free Agency

Miguel Tejada may be approaching the twilight of his career at the age of 37, but he's still generating some interest on this year's free agent market. According to ESPN Deportes, the Cardinals, Giants, and Padres have all expressed interest in Tejada, either as a shortstop or a third baseman. Tejada split time at both positions last year, playing mostly third base with the Baltimore Orioles and mostly shortstop after being traded to the Padres.

Tejada had an awfully rough go of things in Baltimore, putting up a .670 OPS with a paltry .308 OBP in 97 games, though he did turn things around a bit with the Padres. Once he was traded back to the National League, he hit eight of his 15 home runs in only 59 games. He hit pretty well in 2009 for Houston, though, so his second half resurgence may mean there's something left in the tank.

Playing him at shortstop may be a dicier proposition, even if he hits well. He graded out poorly in several advanced metrics in 2009 and his overall performance in 2010 wasn't very good either, though he was better at shortstop than he was at third. Still, both San Francisco and San Diego need shortstops and the market's pretty thin. If Tejada can play the way he did for the Padres down the stretch in 2010, there are definitely worse options on the market.

 

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