A Look Back at the Tejada Deal: Baltimore Came Out Ahead, Obviously...

As most of us know, last off-season, Miguel Tejada was traded to the Houston Astros for outfielder Luke Scott -- a fan favorite who hit .257 with 23 homers and 65 runs in driven in, Troy Patton -- who sat out 2008, but is full of promise, Matt Albers -- who was 3-3 with a 3.49 ERA before ending the season with shoulder problems, Dennis Sarfate -- a fireballer, who served well out of the bullpen and was just shaky as starter, and Mike Costanzo -- currently in the minors.

Much like the Bedard deal, the Tejada trade might have set the course of the Astros back a couple of years, while helping out the Orioles immensely with their ongoing rebuilding process.

The sad thing is that the deal came on the eve of the release of the Mitchell Report. Well, the Houston organization felt confident about the deal -- Tejada did hit .283 with 13 home runs and 66 RBIs, all vastly below his career numbers -- and I'm sure they now regret signing off on this transaction.

Even worse, Tejada was implicated in the Mitchell Report the next day, and to add insult to injury -- he reported to Houston two years older in a matter of weeks than he was in Baltimore.

However, it does not compare to how the former spark plug of a shortstop has fallen, and that reality has been shocking along with saddening for fans, no matter if you liked him or not.

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