Judging by the K/9 and that WHIP, and that ERA, while he was 7th-inning and 8th-inning guy, not to mention the "one good year" you mention, I'd say "he wasn't that good to begin with" isn't a likely possibility. Say, was Roy "not that good to begin with"? How about Eric Gagne? They must be "headcases"! It's mental, I tell ya! "Mechanics are mental."
I have to sadly admit that at one point I wasn't sure about swapping Everett straight up for Tejada. I know, I know. I even wanted to see them keep AE and put Tejada at 3rd, as Wigginton underwhelms me both offensively and defensively. "mmmmm, crooowwwwww"
To be completely fair, I think most of us were expecting Tejada's defense to be considerably worse than it has been. That much has been a pleasant surprise. And, oddly enough, the thing he does BEST in the field was Everett's biggest weakness, in my opinion. Which is to say arm strength and throwing accuracy. Tejada has a cannon. AE could get to damn near every ground ball going his way (and sometimes going Biggio's way) but I didn't always feel entirely confident in his throws.
Oh - that's certainly true. There was a lot of talk about the 3rd base solution. But that was partially a function of Wiggy being crappy too. I was a fan of putting Wigginton at 2B because I felt Matsui was crappy, and Wigginton at least had 20HR potential from 2nd base. Whatever they did, it worked.
Wait, I thought mechanics were mental? Oh, and exactly how many years of success are now required before someone can have a slump and it not be considered "mental"? We disagree.
