The Marlins are nearing a minor league contract with veteran infielder and
former American League MVP Miguel Tejada, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN
Deportes (Spanish Twitter link). The 39-year-old Tejada is a client of
Relativity Sports.
Tejada received a 105-game suspension last season for a pair of positive
tests for a banned amphetamine (Adderall), resulting in a 25-game and 80-game
suspension, as he had already tested positive for Adderall once in the past.
Tejada also faced potential punishment from the Biogenesis scandal, but Major
League Baseball gave him a choice between accepting his 105-game ban for
Adderall use or facing further punishment due to his Biogenesis link.
Prior to last year’s suspension issues, he’d been playing with the Royals
in a utility infield capacity, batting .288/.317/.378 with three homers in
167 plate appearances. That marked his first big league action since 2011, as
he sat out the 2012 season entirely.
Tejada is a career .285/.336/.456 hitter in parts of 16 seasons with the A’
s, Orioles, Astros, Royals, Giants and Padres. The six-time All-Star took
home AL MVP honors in 2002 when he hit .308/.354/.508 with 34 home runs for
the Athletics, but his legacy has been tainted by connections to performance
enhancing drugs and the falsification of his age, in which he led Major
League teams to believe he was two years younger than he actually is.