Sweet repose came to Duquette after Tejada called him from the Dominican Republic where he is playing for Aguilas Cibaena in the winter league playoffs, and told him he no longer wanted to be dealt. Duquette acknowledged Tejada was still upset that the team, in his view, has not kept up with its rivals in the American League East with its offseason moves, but he said Tejada did not equivocate in rescinding his trade request.
''There was no hesitation at all," he said of Tejada's remarks. ''It was strong. It had almost an apologetic type tone. He didn't apologize, but he said, 'I felt bad about the way it all turned out. That's not what I wanted to do.' "
The Orioles also had been in talks with other clubs regarding Tejada, including the Chicago Cubs, who reportedly were prepared to deal pitcher Mark Prior, and the Philadelphia Phillies, who offered outfielder Bobby Abreu. Published reports had the Phillies proposing that Tejada would play third base alongside shortstop Jimmy Rollins and then learning he was not keen on the idea, but one major league source said last night that the Phillies had spoken with the Red Sox about flipping Tejada to Boston for Manny Ramírez and a pitcher, presumably Matt Clement.
Philadelphia's willingness to explore a Tejada-Ramírez deal would suggest they might be persuaded to consider taking on Ramírez in another deal, perhaps one featuring Abreu. The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that as far back as the trading deadline last July, the Phillies -- whose manager, Charlie Manuel, has enjoyed a long association with Ramírez dating to their time together in Cleveland -- had sniffed around about a Ramírez deal, and did so again during the GM meetings. They came away with the idea that Ramírez, who has veto power over any deal, wasn't keen on playing for the Phillies, but perhaps, with the start of spring training just five weeks away, they have reason to believe Ramírez would reconsider.
