Miguel Tejada finally got his wish. Two years after asking for a trade, Orioles owner Peter Angelos finally agreed to let him go to the Astros for five players: position players Luke Scott and Michael Costanzo, and pitchers Troy Patton, Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate.

Tejada will give the Astros a pretty potent bat, but at age 32, he’s only got a few years of good hitting left, from the looks of it, and just two years left on his contract. He’s declined defensively as well, and is at best an average fielder. Perhaps he could make a move to third base eventually. The pitching staff will really miss having Adam Everett behind them, who is one of the best fielders in baseball (he looks to be dealt for a pitcher at this point). Considering the Astros’ dire pitching situation, I think Ed Wade gave up too much for Tejada in this trade.

Scott, who will be 30 next year, is one of those late bloomers that always looks primed to break out. He’s shown some very good numbers against right-handers, but hasn’t been able to land a starting job because of his lack of defense and performance against left-handed pitching (.259/.372/.431 lifetime). He should be able to DH or play left field for the O’s. Costanzo is a third base prospect that came over from Philadelphia as part of the Brad Lidge deal. He’s got a good power stroke, but at 23 years old, is still a year or two away. Baltimore must be looking at him as the successor to Melvin Mora at the hot corner. Patton is a pretty decent left-handed starting prospect, having performed reasonably well at double- and triple-A at just 21 years old. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he does show a knack for pitching, and features a good fastball and curve. Albers is a stocky, 25-year old right-hander who could work his way into the back of a big league rotation soon, and the 27-year old Sarfate is a hard thrower who needs to harness his stuff to be effective. Perhaps he could make it as a late inning setup guy?  Advantage Baltimore, to be realized ca. 2009.