> Tri-city signs Miguel Tejada’s 19-year-old son.
The Tri-city Valleycats have signed outfielder Miguel Tejeda, son of former American League Most Valuable Player Miguel Tejada, manager Pete Incaviglia confirmed Wednesday.
The son spells his last name differently than his father did during a 16-year big-league career that included stops with the Athletics, Orioles, Astros, Padres, Giants and Royals from 1997 to 2013.
Tejada, a shortstop and third baseman, hit 302 homers and made six All-star teams. He won the AL MVP with Oakland in 2002 and the All-star Game MVP in 2005.
Incaviglia said Tejada will accompany his 19-year-old son to Valleycats spring training, which has a report date of May 11. Tejeda, born in the Dominican Republic, was released by the Philadelphia Phillies organization on Jan. 27. He batted .156 for the Phillies’ Dominican Summer League team in 2019.
“He’s ready to go,” Incaviglia said. “Not really sure what happened with the Phillies, but I saw some video on him and he looks like a pretty good athlete. He’s a little longer and leaner than I think his dad was. Swing looks good. He looks like an athlete. I guess there’s a reason why the Phillies spent, I think he got like a $60,000 signing bonus or something. He’s only 19 years old, and he’s ready to go.”
Incaviglia said Tejada plans to spend a couple of weeks with the Valleycats in Troy.
“It’ll be kind of nice to have Miggy around,” Incaviglia said. “Miggy’s going to come and spend some time in spring training. It’s always good to have a guy of that major league quality hanging around your players. That’s a good thing.”
Tejada’s career wasn’t without controversy. He was suspended for 105 games in 2013 after testing positive for amphetamines in violation of Major League Baseball’s drug program.
Tejada told ESPN at the time he was using Adderall for Attention Deficit Disorder and had medical permission from MLB but continued using it after his permit expired.
“It’s not a vice, it is a disease,” Tejada told ESPN.
In 2009, Tejada pleaded guilty to misleading Congress about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. He admitted he withheld information about a former teammate’s use of PEDS. He was sentenced to one year of probation.
He previously acknowledged he bought human growth hormone while playing for the Athletics but threw the drugs away without using them. Prosecutors said they
had no evidence to contradict that, the New York Times reported.