What a good PR move that would be. There have been rumors around for a while now that Tejada is available. He has 2 years left on his contract for 13 million a year.

The real questions are how much would it take to get him and how good will he defense be over the rest of his contract?

How much will it take to get him?

There have been reports that the Orioles are

MacPhail said the Orioles want to rebuild their talent base in all areas, suggesting they would want multiple players in any deal. They need pitching and have an obvious hole in center field, where Melky Cabrera would fit.

The Orioles also need a closer because of injuries to Chris Ray and Danys Báez and are interested in Kyle Farnsworth, who was developed by the Chicago Cubs when MacPhail and Manager Dave Trembley worked there.

I think Tejada might be available for Huston Street, somebody similar to Jason Windsor, and an infielder (Crosby, Scutaro or Petit).

Will he play good enough defense?

First off he is a good hitter for a SS so even if he is a little below average defensively it will be good fit (especially with above average at 3B assuming Chavez is there and 2B).

I don't really trust defensive stats but the consensus seems to be that he still has a very good arm but is losing range, he always seemed to be good fundamentally. At 31 years old he might be better off at 3B.

This could be the right handed bat the A's need at a realistic price. How good does this lineup look?

LF Buck
1B Barton
SS Tejada
DH Cust
RF Swisher
3B Chavez
2B Ellis
CF Denorfia / Kotsay
C Suzuki