Ramirez offered for Tejada
Boston looks to deal with Orioles
One day after the Red Sox traded a former All-Star shortstop, Edgar Renteria, the club offered Manny Ramírez to the Baltimore Orioles for Miguel Tejada, arguably baseball's most dynamic shortstop, according to industry sources.
As of late last night, the Orioles had been contacted about Tejada by five to eight teams, including Boston, but weren't ready to take the Sox' offer to owner Peter Angelos, according to an Orioles source. It's uncertain whether Angelos would want Ramírez.
Baltimore, while fielding several offers, still holds out hope that it can talk Tejada, a world-class player in his prime, into remaining with the club. Tejada, unsettled by Baltimore finishing 21 games behind the Yankees and Sox last season and, in his mind, doing little to change the team's losing culture, told the Associated Press in the Dominican Republic Thursday that he would like to be moved, just two seasons into a six-year, $72 million deal.
Tejada's agent, Diego Bentz, declined to comment yesterday, saying the situation was too delicate. He refused to speculate as to whether Tejada has spoken with Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, though he did acknowledge the two are best friends and have known each other since their youth in the Dominican.
Still, the offers Baltimore has received around baseball don't figure to be final offers, meaning a deal with any team figures to take time. It's not ideal to swap star players within the division, given the 19 times the teams play each season, but Ramírez's offensive production -- equal to or better than Tejada's -- could offset that concern. However, there's a considerable difference in the players' defensive abilities.
But, the same reason Tejada cited for leaving could be a deal-breaker for Ramírez, who, given his veteran status, has the right to veto any deal. While it's unknown whether he would raise an objection to a trade to Baltimore, the fact that the Orioles aren't expected to contend stands to decrease the likelihood that Ramírez would sign off on a deal.
Meanwhile, the Sox could have legitimate company in the pursuit of Johnny Damon in the form of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers had not, as of last night, made an offer to the 32-year-old center fielder but they were thinking about it, according to a Dodgers source. The Dodgers are also interested in former Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller, a free agent, but no offer is imminent, the source said.
The Sox have made two known offers to Damon, the first for three years and somewhere between $27 million and $30 million, and the second for $40 million over four seasons. The Dodgers already have a leadoff hitter in shortstop Rafael Furcal, who left Atlanta this offseason for a three-year, $39 million deal in LA that probably raised the going rate for a leadoff hitter of Damon's caliber.
J.D. Drew, who signed with the Dodgers last year for $55 million over five seasons, is penciled in to play center field this season. But, if Damon were signed, Drew could move back to his natural position, right field.
The Sox' pursuit of Tejada, meanwhile, is tantalizing, given his production (28 homers, 110 RBIs per 162 games played), age (29), and relationship with Ortiz. Tejada, MVP of the most recent All-Star Game, ceded his spot in the Home Run Derby, which he'd won the previous year, to Ortiz. In the actual game, Tejada cranked a 438-foot solo homer off John Smoltz, knocked in two runs, and helped turn two double plays.
Ortiz that night called Tejada ''one of the best players in the game right now," adding, ''everything he's done for Baltimore and the league has been great." Tejada is also well known to Sox manager Terry Francona, who was Oakland's bench coach in 2003, Tejada's last season with the A's.
Tejada, if acquired, likely would fit Ortiz's liking as a suitable replacement in the Sox' lineup to protect him. Tejada appears well suited to hitting fourth. He's hit .307 in his career as a cleanup hitter vs. .294 in the third spot, and has near-identical homer and RBI totals per at-bat hitting third and cleanup.
Tejada's six-year, $72 million deal included a $12 million signing bonus, half of which has been paid and the other half of which the Orioles would be responsible for in $2 million increments in 2006, 2010, and 2011. He made $3 million in 2004 and $9 million in '05, leaving $48 million still due in base pay. That breaks down to $10 million in 2006, $12 million in '07, and $13 million in '08 and '09. Ramírez, meanwhile, is due $57 million ($19 million, $18 million, and $20 million) over the next three seasons, plus a $1 million assignment bonus if he's traded.
However, $12 million of the $57 million still due to Ramírez is deferred until 2011 and beyond, bringing the present value of the deal closer to $47 million-$51 million.
Tejada, who cranked 34 homers and knocked in 150 runs two years ago, dipped in power and production last season, to 26 homers and 98 RBIs. Sammy Sosa's disastrous season and Rafael Palmeiro's claim that a B12 vitamin shot given to him by Tejada might have caused Palmeiro's failed steroid test, seemed to affect Tejada's production.
Still, he did notch 50 doubles (tying Derrek Lee for the major league lead), and his .864 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) was the second highest of his eight-year career. He ranked first among major league shortstops in doubles, homers, and RBIs, second in slugging (.515), third in average (.304), and seventh in OBP (.349).
A .280 career hitter, Tejada was at his best last season against the two opponents that mattered most. He hit .377 with three homers and 11 RBIs vs. the Sox and .373 with two homers and 20 RBIs against the Yankees. He also played in 162 games for the fifth consecutive season, and his 918 consecutive games mark baseball's longest active streak.
He's won one MVP award, in 2002, when he hit .308 with 34 homers and 131 RBIs in Oakland.
If the Sox cannot land Tejada, their search for a shortstop likely would turn to a limited class of shortstops on the open market, a list topped by former Marlin Alex Gonzalez (who succeeded Renteria in Florida when Renteria went to the Cardinals). Two of the three other shortstops available -- Nomar Garciaparra, Pokey Reese, and Royce Clayton -- have played here before.
Gonzalez's agent, Eric Goldschmidt, refused to address the state of negotiations with the Sox and what his client is looking for (in years or dollars) but did label Boston as ''a team Alex would like to play for." As reasons, Goldschmidt cited the presence of two of Gonzalez's former teammates (Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell), the ballpark (he's a righthanded pull hitter), and the team's competitiveness.
Goldschmidt claims that the market for Gonzalez also includes the Cubs, Arizona, Baltimore (if they move Tejada), and ''a couple other clubs [that] have contacted us that want to trade their shortstop to upgrade to Alex."
The Sox, if they were to deal Ramírez for Tejada, would then have a need in left field. Andy Marte, acquired for Renteria in the deal with Atlanta, could make a move to left, but that would only add to the complexities for the 22-year-old, who would be playing his first full big league season and doing it in Boston. 