ESPN: Tejada says he DOES NOT want to play third

Brando2101 · Jul 30, 2006

Maybe this will put the Astros in a better position. Then again, a request like that did not stop Washington from trading for Soriano.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2534276

A potential trade of Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada may have hit a snag -- he doesn't want to play third base, at least not now.

The Orioles are reportedly working on a trade of their All-Star shortstop, and two of the potential suitors are the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers.

The problem is, both teams have established shortstops in Orlando Cabrera and Michael Young. Tejada told reporters Saturday that he does not want to switch to third base, as Alex Rodriguez did when he joined the New York Yankees.

"I don't want to go anywhere to play third base. [Shortstop] is the position I've always played," Tejada said before the Orioles' 13-11 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday -- although he did say he wouldn't rule it out in the future. "I don't want to disappoint myself and I don't want to disappoint anybody else. If I go somewhere else, I am going to try. But it's not the same [as] if I was going to be playing short."

Speaking about the transition from shortstop to third, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia told the Los Angeles Times that Tejada "is very athletic … but the first thing is, a player's heart has to be in it."

Despite the trade rumors, Orioles owner Peter Angelos has said it would take an exceptional deal for the team to part with its best players. And Tejada, who has distanced himself from his preseason trade demands, said he does not want out of Baltimore.

"I'm not trying to leave from here," he told The Sun of Baltimore. "They're trying to make me leave. It's the team, not me. I don't have control of that. The manager and I don't know who, they want to take me out of here. But I don't want to push to get out of here because that's not what I'm thinking."

But Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo denied he wants Tejada gone.

"It's certainly not something that would come from my mouth," Perlozzo told The Sun. "It would be pretty hard to say that you want your top hitter and RBI guy off your ballclub. I don't feel that way at all."
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Oski2005 · Jul 30, 2006

Brando2101 said:

Maybe this will put the Astros in a better position. Then again, a request like that did not stop Washington from trading for Soriano.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2534276
Click to expand...

Soriano was going to test the FA market anyways, so it wouldn't have done him any good to just not play in a contract year. Tejada will have the option to demand a trade or become a FA if he isn't moved, so he has the better leverage which means the Astros definately have an advantage in being a team that is offering the starting SS job (unless Garner and Purpura think that Everett's double play in the playoffs was so important that he gets to keep that job no matter what ) . On the otherhand, if the Angels are still in it, Orlando Cabrera already said he'd move over to third. BTW, is Chone Figgins part of their package for Tejada???

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ESPN: Tejada says he DOES NOT want to play third

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