DALLAS — The Cubs losing out on shortstop Rafael Furcal could turn out to be the biggest blessing in disguise for general manager Jim Hendry.
That’s because there might be another, better, shortstop on the market. His name is Miguel Tejada.
If the reports out of the Dominican Republic and Baltimore are to be believed, Tejada is fed up with the seemingly directionless Baltimore Orioles and wants out after only two years there.
Knowing that Tejada is a winning ballplayer with impeccable character, it’s not hard to believe that he is fed up.
If Tejada indeed does demand a trade, look for the Cubs to be first in line and look for them to have a very good shot at landing Tejada.
Hendry was willing to go as high as $57.5 million and up to six years for Furcal.
Tejada left the Oakland Athletics after 2003 to sign a six-year, $72 million contract with the Orioles. So the money isn’t a problem, and the betting here is that the Cubs could get the O’s to pony up some of the dough.
From the Orioles’ standpoint, they’re going to want nothing to do with dealing Tejada to their friends in the American League East: the Yankees or the Red Sox. They’ll probably want to get him out of the AL altogether.
Furcal left the Atlanta Braves to go to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Braves wasted no time replacing him, getting Edgar Renteria from the Red Sox at the just-concluded winter meetings.
So Tejada and the Cubs seem a perfect match.
Of course, the Orioles are going to want something good in return for Tejada. The Cubs still have young pitching to deal, and to have this once-in-a-lifetime shot to get a player the caliber of Tejada, Hendry also might be willing to part with some of the emerging position-player talent in the Cubs’ minor-league system.
That minor-league system was stocked, so to speak, by John Stockstill, who just left as the Cubs’ scouting director to take an assistant GM job with the Orioles.
Here’s another reason this whole Furcal thing might be a blessing: Tejada is a better player.
Let’s look at their numbers. In 154 games this year, Furcal batted .284 with 12 home runs, 58 RBI and an on-base percentage of .348. He made only 15 errors.
Tejada played in all 162 games for the Orioles, batting .304 with 26 homers, 98 RBI and a .349 OBP. He committed 22 errors.
Tejada is also a leader who would have an immediate positive impact in the Cubs’ clubhouse, a clubhouse that also will benefit from the addition of center fielder Juan Pierre, whom Hendry pried from the Florida Marlins.
Going third to first across the diamond, the Cubs would have Aramis Ramirez at third base, Tejada at shortstop, a combination of Ronny Cedeno and Neifi Perez at second base and Derrek Lee at first.
That’s pretty good both offensively and defensively.
A trade for Tejada, if indeed he’s serious about wanting out, will take some time to develop. Hendry has proven to be a pretty shrewd and creative wheeler-dealer in his tenure as Cubs GM. Just a few days ago, Hendry was in a funk over losing Furcal to the Dodgers.
Sometime before or after Christmas, he could be counting his blessings, both the easy-to-see kind and the blessings in disguise.