Waiting is a Mistake  by Bob Bryant - July 31 , 2006

The Orioles, and the fans, are going to be sorry.

Why?

Because Miguel Tejada will still be part of this club tomorrow. And the day after that, and all through the dog days of August.

Then, in the off-season, he'll make noise about being traded again, and this time, the O's will have to do it.

And they won't have the leverage they have right now, until 3 PM today...because then EVERYONE will know that Tejada has become poison for the O's, and they will have to deal him.

How many times does such a scenario result in the team netting a really positive result?

This is merely delaying the inevitable. Tejada is going to demand a trade on the off-season. You can bank on it.

Besides, isn't he wearing out his welcome here, anyway? Aren't the fans sick of his act yet? I know I am. There was last season's pouting over finding out that Sammy Sosa was a big jerk, and Palmeiro's statements. There's the poor fielding, the lack of hustle, the rumors of the O's walking on eggshells to not upset him.

Who needs it?

He's a really good player, not a great player. He's hot right now, and teams want him. Teams willing to overlook his peevish nature, his mercurial moods, his lack of hustle, and his defensive shortcomings.

All of those things might be coming to light again in the off-season. How do the Orioles know he isn't going to go into another funk after he's not moved? Does anyone recall his less than scintillating performance of last August and September?

The fans need new hope. Sure, this club will take a big offensive hit without him. but if they tighten the defense and improve the pitching, it's the best cure they could muster, because it's not looking like offense is going to be the calling card of this club for awhile, anyway.

I know we're telling ourselves that Miggy doesn't have to be moved, because they can always do it in the off-season.

But considering the past behavior and performance of the player in question, I don't think that's the case.

The time is now. The iron is hot. The window is closing. Get one more decent future prospect for Miggy from Stoneman, take Santana and Aybar, and start rebuilding the club for real, instead of patching it.

Otherwise, we're going to see a replay of last off-season, and the return could be even less.