If Tejeda continues to struggle, the blow that Wade absorbs will be much harder to recover from than the one he took from Chacon.

Perhaps Keith Hernandez can give Wade some advice on absorbing blow.

Without question, Tejada is mired in a hitting slump which has extended over a month. It is premature to say whether that is just a normal slump, or the sign of real decline. There is certainly no basis for jumping to the conclusion that the slump is due to "lack of steroids," as Justice has.

I disagree with Justice's conclusion that Tejada's defense has become bad during this period. Based on THT, Tejada continues to have the highest RZR (.872) of any NL shortstop. That ranking has been consistent throughout the season. Dewan's Fielding Bible +/- system shows Tejada ranked 12th among all ML shortstops in both leagues, which is significantly better than his high-20's ranking in 07 and 06. I think this is one of those cases where Justice has allowed the hitting slump to color his perception of Tejada's fielding.

We have to remember that he's older than we thought. Of his top 10 BBRef comps only 3 (Yogi, Kent, and Tony Perez) held on to most of their offensive value at age 34, and many (Vern Stephens, Travis Fryman, Bonilla) were utter dogmeat at this age.

Is it too early for a HoF thread for him? Vizquel's been debated to death here but I can't recall one thread which discussed his chances. A SS with 268 homers, over 1,000 ribbies, 113 OPS+? Borderline at best-I guess it depends on how his D has been viewed.

Who wants to dig up all the Tejada/Wade fellating articles from earlier in the year?

Who wants to dig up all the Tejada/Wade fellating articles from earlier in the year?

Just search back through Richard Justice's articles... he was the biggest fan of this move... this move that had zero chance to work... ever...

he was the biggest fan of this move

Ed Wade made this deal, one day before Mitchell Report's release, with the full support and best wishes of the City of Baltimore.

/But I do wish Miggie well...

Is it too early for a HoF thread for him?

I'll chime in regardless of whether it's too early or not: he has about as much chance of getting in the Hall of Fame as my dog does.

I'll chime in regardless of whether it's too early or not: he has about as much chance of getting in the Hall of Fame as my dog does.

That being said, Cooperstown is a gorgeous community in which to have a dog, FYI.

Just don't eat the yellow snow.

It's a lot more likely that his first two months were the blip, not his current slump; all the trends and numbers point that way.

That being said, I thought he'd manage at least one better-than-recent season for the 'Stros.

Justice ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait till the off-season when Miggy sulks and makes noises about wanting upgrades in players or a change of scenery.

They will be a lot sorrier next year that he's around, I'll wager.

Whether one belives in chemistry or not, it's hard to not think the O's improved theirs not only by picking a new manager, but also by trading Bedard and Tejada.

bob,

the astros organization absolutely HATED luke scott personally and thought albers was uppity (did not drop down on his knees in front of biggio and open mouth wide)

and drayton mclane has wanted tejada ever since the 2004 ASG. he told wade to get rid of scott (among others) and do whatever it took to get tejada.

the MINUTE the tejada trade went thru the FO released all this propaganda about how tejada was brought in to be the leader of the astros and to bring a winning attitude (i shtt you not).

me i took a good look at his stats and went and read a whole lot of orioles blogs and read tango's fan ratings. and the mitchell report. and this year's astros team is incredibly worse than last year's and next year's gonna be incredibly terrible - hopefully he'll demand a trade at the end of the year.

justice goes from spouting the FO propaganda to saying what he really thinks (only in his blog - in his replies when he is too tired to watch what he types - suck it bissinger you ****)

and tricky dick,
my eyeballs work just fine too. tejada looks good at short next to loretta. but he misses most balls up the middle that everett got. and he bobbles too many. and he doesn't turn as many DPs as he should. and he's not as sharp as he was the first 2 months. looks like roids don't just turn neifi perez into barry lamar

and speaking of barry lamar, guess if cooperstown good for dogs we gonna have to take him there on our honeymoon next year because he gettin old and it might could be the last time a barry lamar sets foot in cooperstown...

Patton and Albers are finished for the year and we have no shortstop but I still like the trade as an O's fan.

That's ALL-STAR Miguel Tejada to you!

Patton and Albers are finished for the year

Actually, Albers is going to try rehabbing his shoulder rather than going under the knife. If it works, he could be pitching again in late August or September.

"but he misses most balls up the middle that everett got."

This is a good point. After watching Everett all these years, pretty much anyone else is going to look like a clueless stumblebum by comparison, even if he's really not any worse than average.