Tejada likely will be with another team in 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services Miguel Tejada's seventh season in Oakland likely will be his last. At a Saturday news conference in Arizona, Athletics owner Steve Schott said Oakland will not offer the reigning American League MVP a new contract when Tejada is eligible for free agency after the upcoming season. "I just think the world of him, the problem is there is just absolutely no possibility we can sign him to a long-term contract," Schott said. Tejada led the Athletics to the American League West crown with a .308 average, 34 homers and 131 RBI during the 2002 season. Tejada also had an amazing run of clutch hits for the A's, including a pair of dramatic game-winning hits during Oakland's 20-game winning streak in August and September. Tejada, considered one of the elite shortstops in the game, made $3.65 million last season and will get $5 million this year. Tejada has spent his entire major league career in Oakland. When he arrived for spring training in February, he said he was anxious to get a long-term commitment from the A's. "I love Oakland. It's a great city,'' Tejada said at the time. "I know everybody. It's like a family.'' Tejada would not be the first big-time free agent to get away from the A's. Jason Giambi, the 2000 AL MVP, signed a $120 million free agent deal with the Yankees before the 2002 season. "I could lose two MVPs in two years to the system, it sure p----s me off," Schott said. First Giambi now this? This is getting really, really ridiculous. What's the point for small market teams to even bother participating anymore? They're just minor league camps for big spending owners.
As a huge Athletics fan, I certainly find it very disappointing to lose another great player on and off the field. Miggy has been my favorite since McGwire was traded and its gonna be tough seeing him in another uniform (Mets? Dodgers? Braves?) next year. But as an A's fan, this is absolutely acceptable. Miggy wanted 8-10 years, which would be suicide for the A's in their financial predicament. Even if the A's offer a similar contract to Miggy as Jason Giambi (15 million per year), Miggy wants 2-4 more years than even Giambi wanted. The A's are a $50 million a year team and they cannot have one player take up a third of their salary. The A's philosophy is to win with pitching and develop young hitters through the draft or make necessary trades before and during the season. They already have a plan to replace Tejada in which move Mark Ellis to shortstop and bring up Esteban German to play second. Sure, they are no Tejada but neither was Scott Hatteberg a Jason Giambi and they still won one more game. For this season, its try to win it all with Tejada and then regroup and stay competitive. As an A's fan, this is both a blessing and a curse. A curse because the A's will never fulfill their potential (could you imagine a lineup with Damon, Tejada, Giambi, Dye, Chavez, Durazo). A blessing because we have an organization that does contend for the division title every year even though they rank in the bottom of the salary structure (Don't be surprised if we get Carlos Beltran and we got a stud prospect named Rich Harden). Maybe this is all a bargaining move by the A's. If Tejada really loves Oakland and the organization, he'll have to be satisfied with a 3-5 year deal. I wouldn't close the door on Tejada returning just yet.
What really sucks is that the A's no longer get compensation draft picks for losing all their FAs. Since they draft so well, that was one of their saving graces. Now, they will lose players like Tejada, and get nothing in return. I would feel bad for Oakland fans if they didn't win so many games each year with that kickass rotation of theirs.
This is another problem for Oakland...they just cannot draw enough fan support. How can a team that has won nearly 300 games over the last 3 years and has a good chance to win 100 this year not get more than 30,000 fans a game?! And this year, they may average less becasue they got rid of dollar Wednesdays. Unless the A's can start filling the seats, then the owners will continue using their excuse of a tight budget.
Maybe they can move to Mexico? Sellout every game. Or, the Austin A's. . . Hey, let's all go to as many Stro's games as possible this season, maybe We can give Scrooge McLane enough cash to sign another big FA. Biggio's big money comes off the books as well after this season.
Wouldn't be such a big blow to see Miggy in an Astros uniform? If the A's were out of it by mid-season, would the 'Stros make the trade?
RavenLunatic Just heard from Kurkjian on ESPN that the A's do get two draft picks from Tejada leaving. I don't think the new FA/draft rule is in effect till 2005. Rocketman95 Contracts in MLB can be backloaded like the NFL. When the A's offered Giambi 90 million for 6 years, it was really like $12-$13 million a year b/c it was heavily backloaded. I think the difference with the NFL is that you can't just cut a player and not pay them (like what the Raiders will eventually do with Rice and Brown).
