From Ken Rosenthal:
The talks are stalled, a source says, over the Cubs' insistence that the Orioles give up left-hander Erik Bedard along with Tejada if they want Prior - and the Cubs' refusal to include top outfield prospect Felix Pie or a top pitching prospect in return.
OK, so here we go. I will suggest two trades with the Cubs (edited to include Ronny Cedeno, who I forgot about).
Carlos Zambrano and Felix Pie/Ronny Cedeno for Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard
OR
Mark Prior, Rich Hill and Felix Pie/Ronny Cedeno for Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard
I am not the biggest Pie fan in the world so I'd need Zambrano over Prior to not also include Hill. If they don't want to move Zambrano (and they shouldn't, he's the only reliable guy they have), then I'll take Prior...and Rich Hill.
Maybe that's ridiculous and a hard bargain, but I'm not the supposed contender with Neifi Perez at shortstop.
What sense does Prior-for-Tejada/Bedard make? Prior and Tejada are both known commodities and very good, but one of them is a pitcher with a questionable arm and the other is basically a lock as an All-Star shortstop and a big bat in the middle of the lineup. Prior-for-Tejada straight up doesn't even make sense to me, so why would we throw in Bedard and then not get back a top prospect with the deal? Zambrano-for-Tejada straight up doesn't make sense to me either. I'd still want another player.
The point is the Orioles aren't being held at gunpoint to do this. Tejada has not formally filed his request for a trade or anything. They don't HAVE to do anything. So if the Cubs want Miguel Tejada, who is under contract for a while longer and is arguably the best shortstop in baseball, they kind of can't be doing their own hard bargain here. Or maybe they just want to give the impression that they're trying.
I don't expect any deal to come about, though I am somewhat fearful that the front office will do something stupid with Tejada still.