Tejada Brings Controversy to Houston

December 17, 2007 @ 05:05:21

By Chris Hadorn
Edited by Tim Heaney

It has been a feverish week for Miguel Tejada to say the least. On Wednesday December 12, the Baltimore Orioles dealt Tejada to the Houston Astros in exchange for outfielder Luke Scott, minor league third baseman Mike Costanzo and pitchers Troy Patton, Mike Albers and Dennis Sarfate.

Just as the Astros were rejoicing over their headline acquisition, Tejada's name surfaced the next day in the report compiled by the George Mitchell investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. According to the report's findings, the Dominican shortstop purchased both steroids and human growth hormone from former outfielder Adam Piatt in 2003, his one-time teammate with the Oakland Athletics.

The steroid association promises to make Tejada's arrival in Houston a tumultuous one. He'll be under heavy pressure to produce right away because the club traded a boatload of young players with the expectation to compete in the short-term.

Diminishing Power Will Fuel the Fire

Tejada's home run figures and slugging percentage have declined in each of his last three seasons with the Orioles. His doubles totals have also diminished in the last two years. This evidence will raise suspicions about how much of the shortstop's previous slugging success could be attributed to alleged use of performance enhancers. Although a direct correlation can't be made, fantasy managers should be cognizant that drug use might have enhanced his numbers in the past.

A More Favorable Environment

Tejada joins a dangerous lineup and plays in a homer-friendly ballpark that should help his cause in the statistical department. The 2002 American League MVP will bat third in Houston's lineup, behind the team's recently acquired table setters: outfielder Michael Bourn and second baseman Kazuo Matsui. Even more enticing, Tejada will hit in front of a devastating trio of sluggers that includes first baseman Lance Berkman, and outfielders Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence. All three are capable of breaking the 30-home run and 100-RBI plateaus. Count on Tejada to break the century mark in runs scored and push 90 RBI with his setup in the three-hole.

Table: Miguel Tejada Statistics, 2004-2007

Year	AB	H	R	2B	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG
2004	653	203	107	40	34	150	.311	.360	.534
2005	654	199	89	50	26	98	.304	.349	.515
2006	648	214	99	37	24	100	.330	.379	.498
2007	514	152	72	19	18	81	.296	.357	.442

Thanks to the shallow Crawford Boxes 315 feet down the line in left field, Tejada may gain a few extra round-trippers at Houston's Minute Maid Park. The venue is tailor-made for right-handed hitters. From 2005-07, the ballpark has been a haven for dingers with a home run park factor of 1.13.

Still a Good Shortstop

Tejada is no longer an elite fantasy player at his position in the class of Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Additionally, the two-time Silver Slugger winner could even be listed behind Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, in the shortstop rankings and some may prefer to draft Detroit Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria, Detroit Tigers first baseman Carlos Guillen (who retains shortstop eligibility from last season), New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Texas Rangers shortstop Michael Young over him. In spite of all that, Tejada can still swing the stick and play at a near- All-Star level. The 31-year-old ranked third among American League shortstops with a .799 OPS last season.  

Durability has defined Tejada's career and he's a player fantasy owners can normally count on to be in the lineup everyday racking up numbers. Prior to 2007, he had played all 162 games in six consecutive seasons. Last year, a fractured wrist was responsible for putting an end to Tejada's 1,152 streak of consecutive games, the fifth longest in history. The setback limited the Dominican to 133 games played. The good news Tejada was on a 22 home run, 99 RBI pace if one projects his numbers over 162 contests. Even though he's past his peak, Tejada remains a solid second-tier shortstop.

Orioles Outlook

Luke Scott will play the majority of the time in a left field platoon with outfielder Jay Payton. Scott, 29, hit .255 with 18 home runs and 68 RBI in 369 at-bats last season with the Astros. He holds an impressive .882 OPS over a span of 663 career at-bats and has registered a lifetime .516 slugging percentage. An underappreciated hitter, Scott is a sleeper who could pay huge dividends with 25-30 home runs if given the chance.

After going 10-8 in the minors, Troy Patton posted a 3.55 ERA and struck out eight in 12 and 2/3 innings with the Astros. The southpaw will compete for a back-end rotation spot with Baltimore and is a low-round AL-only option as of now. Right hander Matt Albers has a good arm, but has only two quality pitches and went 4-11 with a 5.86 earned run average for Houston in 2007. He may wind up in the rotation or bullpen.

Fantasy Outlook

It's early in the process, but there's a chance Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will take action on Tejada's alleged use of steroids chronicled in the Mitchell Report. One possibility is a 10-to-15-day suspension, similar to the punishment Kansas City outfielder Jose Guillen and Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons received recently. Tejada will scare off some fantasy players because of his baggage and the fact he's coming off his worst season since 1999. Steroids aside, he still has his share of positives as he remains a quality offensive shortstop going to an advantageous setting in Houston. At 31 years old, Tejada is still relatively young in dog years, definitely too early to write off. Taking the good with the bad, Tejada is a good buy-low target in the middle rounds of a MLB universe draft.

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Chris Hadorn
Chris Hadorn has covered minor league and amateur prospects for more than a decade. He writes for San Diego's North County Times and has been a KFFL fantasy baseball contributor since 2006.

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