Orioles Ship Tejada to Houston

The Baltimore Orioles have traded shortstop Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros for outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo.

Headed to Houston

Tejada is coming off a .296/.357/.442 campaign, which is low by his standards but still pretty darned good. The downside is that he turns 32 in May and, thanks to that whole consecutive-games streak thing, has a lot of wear-and-tear on his 5′10″, 170-lb frame. Also, the Astros have an otherworldly defender at short in Adam Everett, so if Tejada moves to third base, how will that affect his value? For a guy that’s due $26 million over the next two seasons, those are a lot of questions. Then again, no-one is out of contention in the NL Central, so why not take a shot…

Headed to Baltimore

Scott is a solid fourth-outfield type who might be capable of a full-time gig. He’s a left-handed batter with a nice mix of power and plate discipline — think Brad Wilkerson.

Albers, a right-hander, had a horrendous (4-11, 5.86 ERA) rookie campaign with the Astros. He was hittable, had a poor strikeout-to-walk ratio, and gave up too many homers. Coming into 2007, Baseball America had rated Albers as Houston’s #3 prospect, so maybe he just needs to make some adjustments at the big-league level.

Patton, a left-hander, was the Astros’ #2 prospect according to BA, which projected him as a potential front-end guy. Patton posted decent numbers at Double- and Triple-A in 2007, although the strikeout rate (5.53) could have been higher.

Sarfate, a right-hander, has spent his entire career in the Milwaukee organization. Prior to ‘07, BA had him ranked as the Brewers’ #22 prospect. Previously a starter, Sarfate moved to the ‘pen last year, with mixed results at Triple-A Nashville. He struck out a lot of batters, but also walked a lot. The Astros acquired Sarfate from Milwaukee in a September deal for the ever-popular “cash considerations.”

Costanzo is a left-handed hitting third baseman with loads of power and questionable ability to make contact. Not quite as whifftastic as Russell Branyan; more like Dallas McPherson.

There aren’t really any impact players in this bunch. Scott is a decent player, chances are that one of Patton or Albers will pan out, Costanzo is intriguing, and Sarfate is roster fill (on the bright side, he is cheaper than Danys Baez).

I know Tejada is expensive and entering the decline phase of his career, but I’m not sure the Orioles got enough in terms of quality. It’s like the kid who trades his dollar bill for two quarters because two is more than one, two quarters for three dimes… Eventually he has five cents in his pocket.

Other Voices

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