If you’ve been living under a rock the past week, not only are you most likely in a considerable amount of pain, you’ve probably missed all the muttering by the media saying the O’s are willing to trade Miguel Tejada, then the next day saying the O’s are not looking to trade him.
Okay, obviously the story got jumbled somewhere along the line.
Anyways, trade or no trade, here’s my take: The Orioles need to trade Miggi.
Baseball Blasphemy? Hardly. The All-Star shortstop has hit a paltry .236 since the Jason Grimsley affidavit surfaced on June 7, an issue that some (Did someone say The Washington Post?) are unfairly using as a sort of connection between Tejada and HGH.
Nevertheless, he leads the entire league in GIDPs (Ground into Double Plays) with 21 and has been criticized by writers and fans for his apparent lack of hustle and desire.
Manager Sam Perlozzo feels differently:
“He still gets work on his knee,” Perlozzo said to the Washington Post. “There’s times when what people perceive as lack of hustle is protection of his knee. I doubt that it’s 100 percent yet.”
If that’s the case, he needs to sit. No longer does he deserve to continue his consecutive game streak. He’s showing up late to pre-game warmups and seems to be disconnected from games at times. If his knee is hurting and his head isn’t entirely in each and every moment of each and every game, he needs to be benched for a night.
I don’t care if he’s Miguel Tejada. You sit players when they’re beat-up and mentally strained.
Personally, I think he needs to be on a plane headed for Anaheim. As much as I love the guy, I’d rather have Ervin Santana and/or Jered Weaver. Brandon Wood would also be a fine replacement.
Hell, if Earl Weaver was still the skipper, Miggi would be on a Greyhound straight to Bowie.
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