Change of heart: Tejada rescinds trade request

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada confirmed last night that he had rescinded his trade request to the Baltimore Orioles in a phone call to executive vice president Jim Duquette, though his frustration at what he perceives as the Orioles' inability to be competitive was unabated.

''I'm done with that," Tejada said of his trade request after playing here last night for Aguilas Cibaenos in a 4-2 loss to Licey in the Dominican Winter League playoffs.

''I really want to stay, you know. I don't want to have this thing bothering my mind. I want to be relaxed. I don't want to hear people saying things about me. If they don't want to make a good team, I'll wait till they get rid of me.

''I'm not going to ask them. I'm going to keep playing my game, keep playing hard. I'll try to wait until we win, do the same thing every year."

Tejada's change of heart appears to kill any chance the Red Sox had of acquiring Tejada in a trade for outfielder Manny Ramírez, a deal Tejada admitted he thought might happen.

''I think Boston was trying to get me," he said. ''If anything happens, we'll wait and see. Maybe it will happen later on. Right now, I'm happy in Baltimore, and I hope everybody understands what I'm saying."

If the Tejada deal is dead, the Sox almost certainly will accelerate efforts to obtain shortstop Julio Lugo from Tampa Bay, though that trade could cost them Andy Marte, the third base prospect the Sox acquired from Atlanta in the Edgar Renteria deal. Boston has been pursuing Lugo independent of its negotiations with the Orioles for Tejada, even considering asking Lugo to move to center field if the Sox also landed Tejada.

Duquette, appearing at the Orioles' FanFest yesterday in Baltimore's Convention Center, said the Orioles were ''elated" at Tejada's decision, a reversal of previous public statements in which Tejada said he was unhappy with the Orioles' offseason moves and wanted to go to a winner.

''This is the first time we heard this directly from him," Duquette told reporters in Baltimore. ''We're elated that he's chosen to stay. We're all committed to improving the team, and it's easier to do it with Miguel than without him."

Asked why he changed his mind, Tejada said, ''my daughter," referring to 6-year-old Alexis. But he appeared to have been stung by some of the criticism directed at him since his trade demand first surfaced.

''My daughter, my wife, my family . . . my wife spoke to me. She just told me, 'Wait for God to give you the opportunity to win. Don't look for it. Let God decide when you're going to win. And I understand that.

''I know I'm really angry because they have not made a better team than we had last year, but that's their thing. I'm an employee there. I only work there. I will keep working the way I work. I'll put my head down and do my job.

''I'm not the kind of person to be in this kind of situation. I've heard a lot of good things, a lot of bad things, that's not me. My daughter just told me two days ago that she saw on TV that they talked about trading me, and she told me she really loves Baltimore, she loves her school, she loves her friends. That made me really embarrassed to see my daughter feel bad. I want my daughter to feel good."

Tejada was asked if he thought it was possible the Orioles would still trade him.

''Well, if they do it, there's nothing I can do," he said. ''If they do it by themselves, I accept that, but I'm not going to ask for a trade.

''I thought at one point I was going to Boston. I heard a lot of comments, I heard a lot of things. But now, spring training is right around the corner and I don't want to keep thinking about [a trade].

''I know there are a lot of people in Baltimore who are not happy with what I said, but what I said before, I think it will be better for the whole city of Baltimore. The city of Baltimore deserves to have a good team.

''They deserve, I deserve, a good team to compete with other good teams. I think what I said was true. They didn't make any moves. They didn't make any moves to get better pitching.

''In our division, we're not competing with one team. We're competing with two teams [the Yankees and Red Sox]. Now we have to compete with three teams because Toronto has made some big moves. But right now, I just work there. I'm going to do my job, keep playing, and I'm going to make everybody happy.

''If they trade me one day, I'm upset right now, because right now I prefer to go [with Baltimore] to spring training.

''But I hope people understand I was speaking for everybody," he said of his earlier criticism. ''I speak for every player, I speak for the coaches, and I hope they heard what I said."