The White Sox are the cream of the crop when it comes to signing international free agents. Luis Robert is their most recent example of that. With the 2018 class eligible to sign on July 2nd, teams all across the MLB are being linked to certain prospects. The White Sox have been linked to possibly the most intriguing one of them all: Miguel Tejada Jr.
Tejada Jr. obviously is the son of former short stop Miguel Tejada. He had a career slash line of .285/.336/.456 and accumulated a WAR of 39.8 over his career. His son plays outfield but some project him as a future third baseman.
Yet again, the @whitesox have the son of a former big leaguer in their sights.
Miguel Tejada Jr. https://t.co/bQOxrEGzK2 pic.twitter.com/UqoIQzJTJU
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 18, 2018
Tejada Jr. is listed now at 6’1, 170lbs. The craziest thing about that?
He’s FIFTEEN YEARS OLD.
With more than enough time to get stronger and better at baseball, Tejada Jr. could end up being a stud.
There’s only 1 problem that the White Sox have:
They can only spend 300K on international free agents this year. Signing Luis Robert caused them to slide into the luxury tax and now forbids them to spend more than 300K on the next 2 international classes. Miguel Tejada Jr. is one of the more talked about international prospects. Part of that has to do with his bloodline, but he is also a fine player in his own right and should continue to get better during his teenage years.
The thing that should keep White Sox fans optimistic about the next 2 international signing periods is their history of success. Luis Robert, Jose Abreu, Micker Adolfo, Dayan Viciedo and a handful of others all were signed by the White Sox. Some have hit, some have busted, and some are still too young to judge how they will fair at the MLB level. But the constant is that the White Sox have a treasured history of international players dating back to the days of Minnie Minoso. They should never be counted out of signing top prospects overseas regardless of the money they have available. Miguel Tejada Jr. could be next in line for Chicago.
MLB bloodlines tend to do pretty well for themselves. Ken Griffey Jr. is a prime example of that, and Vlad Jr. looks like a future All-Star for Toronto. Tejada Jr. could be on a similar route. And you can bet the White Sox will be pushing hard for the kid’s services.
