The Philadelphia Phillies have added some well-known free-agents with star power in recent weeks, such as right-handed reliever Archie Bradley and catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Yet, slightly more than a day after adding “the best catcher in baseball,” the organization released the son of 2002 American League Most Valuable Player, two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and six-time All-Star — 16-year veteran infielder Miguel Tejada.
Coincidentally, Tejada’s son originally sighed with the Phillies just hours after they officially inked star outfielder Bryce Harper to a then-record 13-year, $330 million contract.
The official Minor League Baseball player profile page for Tejada’s son — whose full name is Miguel Angel Tejeda — says the organization released him on Wednesday from the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Phillies Red team.
The Phillies have signed 17-year-old Miguel Tejada Jr.
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) March 2, 2019
Video from when I saw him play in the DPL: https://t.co/szqBmjczr9 pic.twitter.com/H5Kjtln5pN
Miguel Tejada Jr. struggled in his first season as a Phillies prospect in 2019.
In early March 2019, the Phils inked Tejada Jr. to a $60,000 signing bonus. He would go on to play 46 games for the DSL Phillies Red, slashing just .156/.261/.248 with eight doubles, one triples, one home run, 11 RBI, five stolen bases, 14 walks, and 43 stolen bases spanning 162 plate appearances.
In the field, Tejada Jr. played all three outfield positions, where in 40 chances, he committed only four errors while recording 36 putouts for a .900 fielding percentage.
At the time of when the Phillies signed Tejada Jr., he showed the organization at least some promise that he could perhaps produce a career close to that of his dad, who collected more than 2,400 hits in his career playing for six different teams between 1997 and 2013. This Instagram video from Baseball America’s Ben Badler shows the Dominican Republic native taking some swings. His batting stance was even eerily similar to his dad’s, too.
The Phillies had the wrong Tejada at the wrong time.
It is not clear what led the Phils to release Tejada Jr. The lack of a 2020 minor-league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic surely did not help the now-19-year-old’s development.
Between Mike Maddux instead of Greg, Jeremy Giambi instead of Jason, and even Mark Leiter Sr. and Mark Leiter Jr. instead of Al, this is just the latest example of the Phillies having the lesser of the talented relative in their organization.