Yeah but his last name isn't Jeter, its Tejada!
Miguel Tejada agreed to terms with the Giants today for a 1 year deal, $6.5 million. Yes we paid twice the amount we paid Uribe last year for a guy who is 5 years older and with less impressive offensive numbers.
And Sabean basically did exactly what I was fearing he would: freak out at the departure of Uribe and sign the next available veteran on his free agent list. Looking at the meager offerings at shortstop this year, its not a huge stretch to see the Giants sign Tejada, but 6.5 million is more than we're paying Freddy Sanchez next year.
The other thing is that as much as we all said 3 years was too much for a 31 year old Uribe, even 1 year seems too long for a much older Tejada. My joking that we'd even take a look at Omar Vizquel doesn't seem that far off anymore.
But lets look at the positives here. The deal is only 1 year, which means next year we can take a stab at some more impressive free agents to fill our need at shortstop next offseason. On top of that, Tejada is a good clubhouse personality that might fill the void left by Uribe. And finally, Tejada can play both shortstop and 3rd base which might be a good insurance policy if Pablo Sandoval doesn't come ready to play next year.
Oh yeah and at least we didn't sign Jeter to 3 years $60 million...
Laws of the Day
Elder(ly) Statesman Free Agent Signs by Sabean: (Age at time of Contract)
Moises Alou - (38) 2 years, 13.25 mil (2004)
Omar Vizquel - (37) 3 years, 12.25 mil (2004)
Ray Durham - (35) 2 years, 14.5 mil (2006)
Dave Roberts - (35) 3 years, 18 mil (2006)
Edgar Renteria - (33) 2 years, 18.5 mil (2008)
Miguel Tejada - (36) 1 year, 6.5 mil (2010)
Wow, I really was hoping for a younger shortstop...but who knows what's up Sabean's sleeve...maybe this guys is just a bridge until we get a good rookie in there, like we did when moving from Bengie Molina to Buster Posey...I try to be optimistic:)
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