| Douglas Benton. 13th December, 2007 - 12:01 am
 December 12, 2007 might long be remembered as the eve of the release of the Mitchell Report, but for right now, it was one of the busiest days of the hot stove league. We saw a trade sent a former franchise player to Houston and a free agent deal finalized with possibly the next Japanese star. Read on to see how each of the teams involved faired in these deals.
The Miguel Tejada era in Baltimore is over after he was traded to the Houston Astros for outfielder Luke Scott, third baseman Michael Costanzo and pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate. Tejada has two years and $26 million left on his contract.
For Houston, this deal has plenty of plusses. They don't trade any of their top prospects but in return, they get Tejada, who with Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee, will comprise one of the better 3-4-5 in all of baseball. However, Tejada's numbers have dropped the last few years, and last year he hit 18 home runs and 81 RBI's in 133 games. He also has lost a considerable amount of range at shortstop since he went to Baltimore.
For the Orioles, they get out of a somewhat bad contract, but in return they gain five young players who could be pieces in a rebuilding project down the road. Scott is the best player of the group, and Albers could have some potential. Costanzo has been good down in the minors but has yet to prove himself in the major leagues.
I'm not sure the Astros needed to take on more payroll for their offense, but either way adding Tejada makes the Astros a viable candidate in an open NL Central, while not handcuffing them for the future. For Baltimore, the Miguel Tejada era ends in a big disappointment and in return, they basically receive two to three potential role players. this appears to be a strong move by new Astros' General Manager Ed Wade; however, for new Orioles' President Andy McPhail, this isn't a great first impression.
Astros Grade: A
Orioles Grade: D
How would you rate this deal? Email your grades to Douglas.Benton@realgm.com |
