April 17, 2008
Tejada Old
Miguel Tedaja admitted he lied about his age.
Miguel Tejada told the Astros today that he's been lying about his age, and that he's actually 33, not 31. And he's telling the Astros this himself because he didn't want them to find it out from someone else.
Like someone else who? The Feds? Because they're investigating him for perjury?
A lot ages were corrected when immigration restrictions were put in place after 9/11.
Tejada's career trajectory looks pretty normal, I would not have guessed he was two years older.
Posted by David Pinto at
12:32 PM
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However old he may be - did I mention that I'm 29, in my dreams? - Tejada homered today for the Astros. Unfortunately, the Phillies have kicked Backe around real good and lead 6-1 in the fourth.
Problem with a lie of this sort is his age may have played a part in his contract. I can't speak for the buffoons in Baltimore who initially signed him to that deal, but if I were a GM a couple years difference in age would affect how I would value his next so many years. Particularly, this would be considered when determining length of contract. The owners don't have the balls to play hardball, but they should more often challenge a contract when it appears that material information was withheld.
Wonder if there is something in his contract that would invalidate it or penalize him for lack of full disclosure. This has been such a widespread issue with Dominican players, you'd think GMs would have wised up to that by now.
I'm thinking what largebill just said. If I'm Houston, I'm looking to renegotiate. If he doesn't play great this year, I think Houston might be smart to get him for breach of contract or something. Baltimore could too. I've always thought Tejada was a bit overrated.... good, but the hype seems to outweight the reality.
The Yanks bagged a Cuban due to age misrepresentation a few years back. Everybody was fine with him until he took the field and showed he could not compete at the AAA level. They called the lawyers and he was gone fast, without his contracted dough.