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More on Tejada, some on Guthrie

By Jeff Wolfson on January 25, 2010 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday: Bits on Tejada, Scott and Guthrie | Wednesday: O's farm system is getting stronger | Thursday: Hendrickson back for a second year | Friday: A look at the bullpen, Snyder and Hendrickson | Saturday: Examining the offense and the winter moves | Sunday: Reviewing the winter

Monday, January 25:
Steve Melewski writes on Jeremy Guthrie: "Guthrie was happy to put one bizarre theory to rest. When the O's renewed his contract for 2009, Guthrie got a 650-thousand dollar deal, less than he made the previous year. Some felt Guthrie was bitter over the move and it impacted his performance.

"I never expressed that thought. It did not effect my performance in the least bit. I'm being paid to play a game I enjoy playing and last year's struggles were a function of not pitching well and not so much what I was paid to play baseball."

Guthrie, who led the AL in losses and homers allowed, has had plenty of time to look back and analyze his pitching from 2009.

"I need to locate better in the zone, I need to make better pitches with two strikes. Breaking balls need to be down in the zone as they do for any pitcher. Those are things you can work on and gain confidence in being able to do so that execution becomes more consistent."

Guthrie was able to follow up a good 2007 season with the Orioles with another one the next year." [masnsports.com]

Jeff Zrebiec looks at Miguel Tejada's transition to third base: "In agreeing to terms on a one-year, $6 million deal Saturday to return to Baltimore, the immensely proud Tejada finally gave in to the idea Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail presented him with more than two years earlier. Tejada's willingness to play third base, however, is only the first step in what the Orioles expect to be a challenging transition for the six-time All-Star and one-time American League Most Valuable Player.

"I think if you play shortstop in the big leagues for 10 years, you will adapt," said Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, Tejada's double-play partner from the 2004 to 2007 seasons. "It's certainly not going to be easy, and it's not going to be overnight that he's going to turn into the best third baseman ever. But he has the ability, the arm strength certainly. It's a matter of getting over there, getting the repetitions and getting comfortable."

That process will start next month in Sarasota, Fla., when Tejada, 35, reports to spring training. Though Orioles officials won't comment publicly about their plans for Tejada until he passes his physical, they undoubtedly have begun thinking of ways to make things as easy as possible for him. But Juan Samuel, the Orioles' third base and infield coach, cautioned that there are no shortcuts to making a successful transition." [Baltimore Sun]

The Bad Oriole weighs in on the Miguel Tejada agreement: "Tejada still hits doubles (he lead the NL last year with 46) but he unfortunately hits into a lot of double-plays too (29 in 2009). He'll be moving to 3B, a new position for him, but with his strong arm and bulldog mentality, I think he'll be able to make the move pretty easily. And now that Tejada is older, and his power has decreased over the years, he can be moved down into the 6 or 7 hole with little pressure to carry the offense. Leave that to sluggers like Luke Scott, Matt Wieters and Nolan Reimold.

Hopefully this era of Tejada will go better than the last one and the Orioles will start to improve instead of get worse, like they have since 2004, the year Tejada was originally signed." [The Bad Oriole]

Dempsey's Army projects Miguel Tejada's 2010 season: "target="_new"Tejada had a .313/.340/.455 line (14 HR, 46 2B) for Houston last year which gives him a .799 OPS, very close to what he had for Baltimore in 2007. That's a pretty good bat for a shortstop, not so much for a third baseman. Coming back to the stronger league, CHONE projects him at .767 OPS which seems reasonable. That production would have put him squarely in the middle of all MLB third baseman and light years ahead of Melvin Mora's .679 OPS from a year ago. Tejada will hit in the .290-.300 range, hit double digit homers and 30+ doubles. And in case you forgot, he'll swing at anything loosely near the plate.

How will the glove play? Last year, Tejada was one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball according to UZR and no team was looking to sign him as a shortstop for 2010. His range is diminished and his strong arm is still occasionally erratic. I would guess that he will not embarrass himself at third but I don't think he will be even average.

Was he worth bringing back to Baltimore? It depends on your goal. He will improve the team for 2010. I just hope that The Warehouse keeps its eye on the ball and trades Tejada if Josh Bell starts destroying the International League." [Dempsey's Army]

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