“The Giants are not going to have a Gold Glove left side of the infield,” declares the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman, and that’s his diplomatic way of saying 3B Pablo Sandoval and SS Miguel Tejada cannot field their positions to save their lives.   But it’s former AL MVP Miggy, signed during the offseason for a one-year, $6.5 flyer, that gives Schulman specific pause (link swiped from Aaron Gleeman and Hardball Talk) :

Everything you might have heard about Miguel Tejada’s difficulties this spring is true. He rarely barrels up a baseball at the plate. On the field, his range is nonexistent and most of his throws to first are weak, even on routine plays. He looks his age and then some.

When I asked Tejada about his struggles a couple of weeks ago, he said all the extra conditioning work and drills during spring training tire him, and that affects his performance in the games. Once the season begins, he said, there’s actually less work and he plays better.

I have to admit, that’s a troubling explanation for a shortstop who is expected to play 130 games or so. But I choose to wait and see. It’s hard to a rip a guy at this juncture when you’ve never seen him in spring training