Manny, please take notes . . .

Mr. Ramirez,

Please get out a pen and paper and start taking notes. Your fellow Dominican Miguel Tejada has "requested" a trade, but please take note that he has not demanded a trade nor mentioned that he would not show up for spring training if one was not made. Although he is "even more upset now than when he first floated the idea of a trade three weeks ago", Mr. Tejada did state that if he was not traded, he would still "respect the game as I have always done."

Although he had made recent comments that seemed to have put some fans' worries at rest, Mr. Tejada told the Associated Press on Thursday, "Now, I am more upset than when I requested the trade because it's been a month and they haven't done anything." Again, please pay specific attention here, Mr. Ramirez, because his request comes from a desire to win, not from a desire to make $20 million a year and never have to sign a frigging baseball for a fan!

Sir, there are several more opportunities to learn from Mr. Tejada. Although he has expressed frustration with the Orioles lack of major offseason acquisitions, he has carefully clarified that he has no problems with the Orioles recent signings of catcher Ramon Hernandez, first-baseman Jeff Conine, or outfielder Jeromy Burnitz. He simply feels that these moves are not what the club needs to win. He also states that he's "not asking for a team of superstars, [he] only wants a good group that helps [him] to win."

See you in spring training?