source [rquoter] Tejada two years older than Astros thought Shortsop, actually 33, lied about age when he signed in 1993 By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle PHILADELPHIA — Saying he wanted to unburden himself, Miguel Tejada approached general manager Ed Wade and asked to correct misinformation he gave the Oakland A’s when he signed in 1993. The Astros’ new shortstop is actually 33, two years older than he’s listed in the club’s media guide and other baseball records. Tejada was actually 19 when he signed as a kid out of poverty-stricken Bani, Dominican Republic. At the time, he says, a local coach encouraged him to say he was 17. "I'm a poor kid that wanted to sign," he said. "I’m feeling free now,” he said. “It’s something that I had in my mind.” Tejada was signed out of the Dominican Republic by Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, but he was clear that Marichal had no part in the deception. Moreover, Wade and Tejada both said the shortstop’s green card, driver's license and other legal papers in the United States reflect his actual birthday, May 25, 1974. The Astros’ media guide lists his birthday as May 25, 1976. “The thing is I didn’t want Houston to find out from somebody else,” he said. “I wanted to find out just from my face. I’m a man and I’m responsible for everything. That’s why I prefer to come to them and say, ‘You know what? That’s the way it is and we’re moving forward.’ “I was feeling like I had something to say in the last three days. That’s why I waited for today to do it.” Tejada, a former American League Most Valuable Player, has been well chronicled since before he reached the majors with the Oakland A’s. A book was even written about him, but his actual age is barely coming out now. “Fact of the matter is that he plays like he's 25, so I don't think it really matters a whole lot,” said Wade, who indicated the age discrepancy first came out during the course of a media interview. “We're still trying to figure out Jose Cruz Sr's age.” [/rquoter]
How long was the contract we signed him for? Like 6 years? Signing a 31 year old to a 6 year contract is WAY different than signing a 33 year old to a 6 year contract. If Tejada really wants to be a man about this he should have no problem renegotiating his deal if the Astros want to do that. Wade can pretend like the age difference doesn't matter since he is playing so well right now, but towards the end of that contract it's going to REALLY matter.
I believe he is only signed through this year. There may be an option for next year, but I don't know about that.
He's signed through '09, and has the right (as a player with 5 years of service time who was traded in the middle of a multi-year contract) to demand a trade after this season or if not traded, become a free agent.
haha. lying about age? eh, i'm sure he was telling the truth about not doing roids. oh well. he can still ball.
it doesn't really matter considering his what his contract is. i've been mighty impressed with him this season regardless of his age.
His green card and other US papers have the correct age? And this wasn't picked up on before now? Damn. Baseball is the greatest at keeping heads in the sand. Evan
Aha, nevermind then. For whatever reason I misremembered that we gave him an extension after we traded for him. In that case, it really isn't that big of a deal.
Looks like it was because of ESPN that he decided to tell the Astros. It sounds to me like the set him up with a fake interview just to ambush him with this info. I'm sure they'll also show him leaving the interview and the requisite scene of the interviewer looking stunned that a person would walk off upset after being tricked into an interview.
The media wouldn't do that, would they? Unless, contra to what has been reported, his official docs are also fraudulent (effecting his visa status), this is a complete non-story at this point. It certainly won't help him from a character standpoint if the DOJ/congressional investigation goes anywhere.
There have been multiple international free agents that have been exposed in the past two years. It still happens quite a bit.
