By Amaury Pi-González

The Athletics have two league MVP

candidates this year, one is Barry Zito

who is signed and secured by Oakland,

the other one plays everyday; Miguel

Tejada and he is not signed and secured

for the future here.

(Note) The best pitchers win the Cy Young

Award, therefore there is no doubt Tejada

will be the MVP of the A’S and even maybe

of the American League since Zito is a pitcher.Since Art Howe placed Miguel Tejada

#3 in the A’S lineup, the Dominican

shortstop has responded and has lead

the A’S.

Miguel Tejada is the best hitter with

runners in scoring position and the

most dangerous hitter on the A’S

lineup. I don’t want to take anything

from Eric Chávez, but his back is always

a problem and is hampered by

hamstring problems.

Nobody in the A’S lineup brings the

passion to win on a daily basis like the

man from Bani, Dominican Republic.

Miguel is one of the few guys that

after a strike out in a game that his

team is leading by 8 runs looks like

he just lost the 7 game of the World Series.

Tejada’s intensity is the soul of the A’S.

Tejada is the one guy keeping the

A’S offense alive. Will he take the

A’S to the promised land? That still

remains to be seen, but with every

homerun, with every run batted in

with every single, Tejada seems to

be further and further away from the

Athletics in their future long-term

plans. If one player with his individual

talents could take his team to the

promised land, then the Giants with

Bonds and the Rangers with A-Rod

should make it every season to the

World Series, and we know that does

not happen because baseball is

not only the most difficult sport to

have success, but it is also the ultimate

team sport.

In today’s market Miguel Tejada (who

is second in statistics to A-Rod

at this time) in A.L. would bring a nice $10

to $15 million per season. Earlier in the

season, I wrote here that Tejada and

his agent are pursuing a (at least)

$10 million per year contract for

ten(10) years. We all know, that the

Athletics didn’t do that with MVP

Jason Giambi and common sense

tells us that if Tejada is an MVP

he will also not be re-signed by the

Athletics.

Yes, pitching is what has the Athletics

as a contender, but shortstops like

Miguel Tejada are not abundant in

anybody’s farm system, including

the very strong Athletics system.

So, what do the A’S do after 2003?

Miguel Tejada will be a Free Agent

after the 2003 season and you can be

sure, even with all the talk by

Commissioner Bud Selig, who continues

to call for contraction of a few teams

and continues to “cry poverty,”

there are teams out there that will

ink Tejada to a multi-million dollar

longtime deal.

Great pitching is tremendous and I

for one subscribe to the theory that

it is pitching that brings you to play

in October, but (excluding this year’s

All Star Game) there is no tie in

baseball and if you don’t score you

cannot win. Tejada has become a

powerhouse in an Athletics lineup

full of holes and missfires. Without

Tejada the A’S could be in serious

trouble. This is not 1960 when

you could win a majority of games

scoring 4 or fewer runs per game,

you need starters, middle relievers

a closer and good hitting, plus the

always underrated defense to win

ballgames. The A’s are strong

in pitching, but offense and defense

are not their specialty.

Miguel Tejada is literally the Most

Valuable Player the Oakland Athletics

have in their everyday lineup, there

is nobody close on this team to

Miguel’s numbers.

On this roadtrip to Boston and New York

the Athletics need Miguel to continue

his torrid hitting and although they

will not see Pedro Martínez in Boston

(in my opinion pound-by-pound of that

160 lbs frame,the best pitcher in the

league) the Athletics will see Derek

Lowe,John Burkett and Tim Wakefield

(not in that order) in Boston and then

three of the best six-starters in the

Bronx They play 3 in Boston and 3

in New York.

A’S fans should enjoy Miguel Tejada

in 2002 and 2003, but do not make

plans to have him after 2003. It is

not that I am negative, I am going by

the simple fact that the present

ownership of the Athletics didn’t signed

Jason Giambi to $90 multi-year deal

and common sense tells me they will

not sign Tejada to a $100 multi year

contract.

Baseball has become a business for the

very powerful owners. Some people

say: “Can you blame the A’s for not

paying Tejada that type of money?

And I say, unless the economic structure

of the game radically changes, if

you want to compete with the big

boys in New York, Boston,Seattle

and Atlanta you better have very deep

pockets or otherwise you are not

going to have much success in this

business.

Miguel Tejada is one of the best players

in baseball this year and there is no

reason why he won’t improve in

the future, he is only 26 years old.

Do you really think Seattle rather have

Carlos Guillén or Miguel Tejada at

short? How about the Cubs? How about

the Reds? How about the Dodgers? How about the Giants or Mets?

There are many teams that will open

their arms (and most important in

today’s game) their pocket-books to

Miguel Tejada. A’s management is

happy that this is only 2002 and

not 2003. Image If the A’s had to

deal with Tejada this year or lose

him, just like it happened with Jason

Giambi last year?

But, who knows? Maybe by 2003 the

A’s will have new owners, people that

will be able to spend the money Miguel

Tejada is worth. Of course this all

depends if Tejada continues his 2002

season with another 2003 season.

But at this time, if I was going to place

a bet (with the present A’S owners) whether

Tejada stays or leaves after 2003.

I will say it is… Adios Tejada !

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Amaury Pi-González is on his eight season

as Spanish Play by Play Announcer of the

S.F. Giants on KZSF 1370AM Radio

“La Caliente”. Also works the Postseason

for LBC network(Latino Broadcasting Co)

as well as Fox Sports International.

His articles are also available on

www.latinobaseball.com as well as

in newspapers in the USA and Latinamerica.