On June 4 the Orioles announced they purchased shortstop Ruben Tejada from the New York Yankees. Not viewed with much significance at the time, Tejada replaced all-glove, no-bat Paul Janish as the squad’s utility infielder. Janish spent just two and a half weeks on the team after Ryan Flaherty hit the DL.
In fact, this small-print Tejada transaction resulted in the Orioles’ adding a legitimate major league shortstop without giving up any players in return. Dan Duquette took a page from Earl Weaver who placed a high priority on having a veteran bench and called it “deep depth.