Welcome to the off-season. Once again, since the Mets are not one of the ten participants in the post-season, it’s time instead for some post-mortem. In this new series, the Mets360 staff will take a look back at our pre-season previews and see how they played out. Just a fun little ongoing exercise to while away the days until mid-March, when the focus turns again to Port St. Lucie, hot rookies, veterans seeking rejuvenation and who’s “in the best shape of his life.” Today’s spotlight is on Ruben Tejada.
In a word: bad.
After two productive, albeit injury-shortened, seasons in 2011 and 2012, we here at Mets 360 thought that Ruben Tejada was going to build upon his past success in his age 23 season. It seemed like the biggest question mark surrounding Tejada was his ability to stay healthy, but other than that, he was the shortstop of the future.
Mets 360 writers were fairly optimistic that Tejada would stay healthy and continue to produce at a relatively high level:
PA: 565
AVG: .286
OBP: .340
SLG: .360
HR: 3
RBIs: 42
If the Mets got production like that from their shortstops this year, they might have won two or three extra games.
But instead Tejada flopped, earning himself a one-way ticket to Las Vegas (that actually doesn’t sound too bad) where he would toil for more than half of the season. Tejada was so bad, that not only was Omar Quintanilla considered a lateral move, but his 66 wRC+ was actually a significant upgrade over Tejada’s 48 wRC+.
The rest of his numbers are just as ugly:
PA: 227
AVG: .202
OBP: .259
SLG: .260
HR: 0
RBIs: 10
Ouch.
None of us even came remotely close, but the “closest to the pin” award has to go, once again, to Spencer Manners, who predicted a .275/.340/.360 slash line. The most off-target is our friend Chris Walendin, who saw Tejada hitting .308/.350/.380. If only. Of the professional projection models, Steamer takes home the victory, seeing Tejada hitting a “meager” .257/.319/.336. I think we all would have taken that.
We were all hoping for big things out of Tejada this year, and he clearly fell far short of those expectations. His status as a part of the future of the Mets is up in the air, as he seems to have fallen out of favor with management.
2014 is going to be a make-or-break year for Tejada, assuming he even still has his job.
Joe Vasile is a play-by-play announcer for Widener Pride football and host of “Ball Four” on WTSR in Trenton. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeVasilePBP.
Haha, yeah I that doesn’t surprise me in the least. What can I say, I flew too close to the sun with that one. I blame myself. I blame Tejada. I blame Collins. I blame rotten luck. But mostly, I blame Beltran.
If TC is such a great teacher of young ball players why is it that the Mets had to send down Davis and Tejada? Since collins is coming back I don’t see a future here for Tejada. Can you picture TC working with Reuben on his approach to the game? Another position for SA to fill.
No one on the consensus predicted that he would come in to camp out of shape and ill prepared for the season either. There was no excuse for that. If he can’t train properly when healthy, then what can the Mets expect with him rehabbing a broken leg? Even in Tejada’s best season he was still a below average shortstop. Shortstop is now a priority position to fill this off season. Oh and did I mention that he is turning 24 this month and already apparently washed up! What a shame and a waste.
It’s hard to gauge what’s really going on in a player’s mind without being there, but it certainly sounded like he lost the drive that fueled his persona as a gutsy overachiever. Maybe he hung around Frank Frank a little too much (at all).
TC & Sandy have tagged him a goldbricking malcontent before he shattered his fibula. Welcome to New York, Troy Tulowitzki…I WISH…
While I get the criticism of Tejada, I still say we’ve seen much more good than bad from him the past three years. I do think there is alot the fans don’t know though. I hope he’s back next year, even if its just as a bench player.