Breaking It Down – Tejada Traded To San Diego

07/29/2010 8:36 PM -  Fred Zinkie

The Padres knew that their offense wouldn’t cut it in the playoffs.  They made a move to solve that problem today when the acquired Miguel Tejada.  While it’s debatable if Tejada will be enough to help the Padres get to the World Series it is not debatable that this trade impacts the fantasy baseball values of several players on both San Diego and Baltimore.  Let’s take a look:

Miguel Tejada – His role in San Diego is initially unclear but one thing is clear – he is going to be in the lineup most days.  Tejada hasn’t been a helpful player in mixed leagues and we don’t expect that to change with the Padres.  He has only 7 homers this year despite hitting in a friendly park.  Hitting the ball out is going to be harder now.  He also is only batting .269.  If you are using Tejada in a mixed league you have to ask yourself – why?  He isn’t better than a replacement level player in any category.

Everth Cabrera – If the Padres choose to play Tejada at SS then Cabrera will be the one to lose playing time.  We think this is the most likely scenerio.  Cabrera hasn’t hit well all season and while the team will give up a little on defense, they will gain a lot on offense.  It wouldn’t be surprising to often see Tejada start at SS and then have Cabrera replace him if the team is in the lead in the seventh inning or later.  Any thoughts of Cabrera helping in deep mixed leagues are now out the window.

Chase Headley – Tejada will also play some 3B and that will come at the expense of Headley.  The Padres could shift Headley to LF on some days but that seems to be pointless.  After a hot start to the year, Headley has been useless since May.  He only has 7 home runs and is batting .269.  His numbers are very similar to Tejada’s.  Headley is another player that shouldn’t be used in mixed leagues.

Chris Denorfia/Aaron Cunnigham/Will Venable – If the Padres choose to bump Headley to the OF then this trio of players would lose playing time.  We don’t think that is a likely scenario but it is something to be aware of.  Denorfia is the least likely to be replaced since he is the hottest hitter of the group right now.

Josh Bell – Out of all the players affected by this trade, Bell is the simplest to explain.  He is Baltimore new third baseman.  They will use the rest of the season to give him a tryout.  His track record in the minors and in his brief work in the majors suggests that he isn’t worth adding in any mixed leagues.  AL-Only owners always chase at-bats and Bell should get enough of them to make him worth using in those formats.  Expect some power but a negative effect on your team batting average.