In a sea of blah shortstops Miguel Tejada was Captain of the ship "So Taupe I Blend into the Walls of the Model Homes I Move into Every Season".
He is not a flashy or impact player but he is right around league average as a shortstop, and there is something to be said for league average. Remember when the Giants offense was so horrible we all said if we could only field a league average offense with this pitching staff we could win some games? Yeah that is exactly what they did last season and it worked out pretty well.
Well Tejada is about as league average as you can find, his last 4 seasons rank in WAR among shortstops: 13, 10, 13, 24 for an average of 15 out of 30 teams which is right in the middle. If he ranks there again this is just fine and dandy.
Tejada is old but this deal is only one year, so if he melts in to a pile of old he is easy to rid the team of. Tejada has lost a bit of range but it is not as if the pitching staff is full of power sinker guys (unless Tim Lincecum is learning another pitch this offseason) so it isn't that big of a deal. The team managed with Edgar Renteria and his limited range.
This isn't exciting by any stretch of ones imagination but really the backlash against Sabean for this is surprising, his honeymoon ended when the parade concluded. I am inclined to give him a season or two, remember last season he struck it rich with some low risk one year deals maybe the hot streak is still going.
At worst you release him midway through the season and the team is out $6.5 million for just this season and the search can continue. The best case is Tejada gives us something close to what he did just in 2009 posting numbers around .315/ .350/ .450 and decent defense good enough for a solid 3 win season. The most likely scenario is something along the lines .275/ .315/ .410 with slightly below average defense and he is worth 1.5 to 2 wins and is worth every penny.
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