Enjoy Miguel Tejada now.
Enjoy Miguel Tejada today, because
there is a change after 2003 he will
be Adios !Everybody knows that the Oakland
Athletics of today were built on great
starting pitching.
But can the A’S afford to be loosing
quality players every couple of years?
Players like Jason Giambi, Miguel
Tejada…and still be competitive?
So far this season the A’S have survived
without Jason at first base but to loose
a Miguel Tejada would be a tough
thing for A’S fans to swallow. Unless,
the A’S have a phenon in the wings
at shortop down in the farm.
Dagoberto (Campy) Campaneris was
the greatest shortstop the Oakland A’S
ever had. Campy could hit leadoff with
the best, bunt, steal bases, make great
plays in the hole. But Campy could not
hit between 30-40 homeruns and drive
over 100 runs each year Loosing a Tejada
type of player (statistics wise) could be
tough and would leave the A’S with
Eric Chavez to do all the power work..
Miguel Tejada’s contract with the A’S
expires a the end of the 2003 season.
And I confess in this uncertain world
we live in, where the stock market goes
up-and-down, like those beach balls
at Dodger Stadium in a world
changed forever since that September
11, 2001, nothing is a sure thing
anymore. And then, there is a good
possiblity that we will have another
work stoppage in baseball sometime
late this summer or early fall.
All these factors and others (other
teams) could figure big in Miguel’s
future in Oakland.
Let us enjoy Miguel Tejada today, but
also recognize that he is one of the
very best at his position. He is a powerful
hitter and a very good fielder. There are
not too many of those playing shortstop
in the National League. How much would
the Cubs give for a Miguel Tejada ?
How about (at least) $10 million a year
for something like 10 years… He knows
it, his agent is on top of this and the
A’S fans could be just watching another
Jason Giambi situation in the making.
If the A’S win the World Series this season
then all bets are off. But If this team, wins
over 100 games again and make it to the
playoffs, but falls short of the Fall Classic
again, I think 2003 might be the last
year for the great Dominican shortstop
in Oakland.
The A’S management tells everybody they
are making money, that they are not
loosing money. The A’S biggest obstacle
is Commissioner Bud Selig who believes
the A’S should be a team that qualifies for
contraction. He doesn’t say that to the Media,
but we all know that deep down inside that
is what he wants.
So, give Miguel Tejada a $100 million contract for life and then worry. I know,
I know, in a perfect world the A’S would
build their own park and stay in Oakland, but in a perfect world the City of Oakland also
deserves much better leadership in
City Hall.
Are the A’S waiting to see If they can build
a park first, to then sign a guy like Tejada?
I hope not. But remember how good
he was when in a couple of years he visits
the Bay Area wearing a Cubs uniform.
————————————————————–
Amaury Pi-González is on his eight year as the Spanish Radil Play by Play Announcer
for the San Francisco Giants over KZSF
1370 AM Radio “La Caliente”. During off
season with LBC (Cadena Latina Net)as
well as Fox Sports for Postseason and
Caribbean World Series.
Amaury’s columns also appear on
www.latinobaseball.com.
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