Tejada Charged With Lying to Congress

Tuesday morning, Miguel Tejada received word that he's being charged with a crime. Yes, it's related to steroids/performance-enhancing drugs. No, it does not necessarily mean he used. The charges are related to information in the Mitchell Report, which circumstantially proves Tejada lied to congressional investigators in 2005.

During the interview, Tejada denied using performance-enhancing drugs. He also stated that he didn't know any player in baseball was using them. This is where he got himself into trouble.

Adam Piatt, a teammate with Tejada in Oakland, told federal investigators about several discussions the two had about performance-enhancers. In fact, Tejada allegedly purchased more than $6,000 worth of HGH from Piatt that season after Tejada told Piatt he was impressed with his physical condition and was interested as to how he could get himself there. Again, though, he's not being charged with anything but lying about his knowledge of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the majors. Obviously, we can bridge the gap in this case and say that if he bought HGH from Piatt, he obviously knew the substances were in the league, and, thus, he lied to investigators.

There's enough circumstantial evidence to conclude Tejada used. Why buy the stuff if you aren't going to use it? Plus, his numbers for the past two seasons have been dismal compared to his "steroid-era" numbers -- which just happens to coincide with increased testing measures by the league. So, again, why is he only being charged with lying? Well, it sounds like he's taken care of that himself in the form of a deal.

The charge came in "a criminal information," a document that can only be filed with the defendant's consent and usually signals a plea deal is near.

I'm only speculating here, but it's possible Tejada is pleading guilty to these charges in return for further charges being dropped. His penalties for lying to investigators will likely only be probation, so he's getting it a lot easier than he could if he tried to fight this thing.

All in all, the timing of this couldn't have been better for the former superstar. He'll likely be spared the public outcry that's currently intensely directed at Alex Rodriguez.