A few weeks back I penned a column lauding the decent start Ruben Tejada was off to. And as if it was a foreshadowing of things to come, Tejada has now gone into a miserable slump and is once again losing time to backup Omar Quintanilla.
Tejada is now sporting a paltry .200/.324/.217 slash line to go with just one extra base hit and four RBI’s.
Yuck.
So, with Tejada slipping back into oblivion, it begs the question once again: how much longer can the Mets get by with him as their starting shortstop?
At some point the logical conclusion is to finally cut bait with Tejada and admit failure and move on to a new plan. When you combine all his troubles of last year and the inauspicious start he is off to this year, sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade and part ways.
Maybe this is the time to finally dial Scott Boras and inquire about Stephen Drew and relent while coming to some sort of compromise. If this is a game of chicken, maybe it’s time for Sandy Alderson to blink first because status quo is just not cutting it.
What ails Tejada is perhaps the same thing that ailed long-time embattled ex-first baseman Ike Davis. That being, he was never really comfortable with the club knowing that he was not particularly wanted on top of all the negativity surrounding him. Tejada is not exactly in an environment to succeed.
It seems very unlikely that Tejada is capable of turning his career around in New York, at least not up to the Mets’ standards. At this point it seems inconceivable that Tejada will ever approach hitting the way he did in 2012, when he hit .288.
Tejada will probably be nothing more than a weak hitting middle infielder who’s capable of making the occasional nice defensive play (to his credit he’s made some sensational plays in the field thus far). He is what he is, though. His upside is clearly limited with the Mets.
So, Mets’ management, maybe you should cave in and make a call to either Boras about Drew or inquire about Didi Gregorius in Arizona or perhaps Nick Franklin in Seattle. Because, it just doesn’t seem Tejada will ever recapture some of his early-career promise.
If you can say goodbye to Davis, certainly you can say goodbye to Tejada.
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They will not sign Drew before the draft, and probably not even after if he insists on more than the remainder of the 2014 season. The in-house option here is Flores who has struggled thus far batting and is limited on defense. I would think a trade would be the better route as long as we are not giving up too much.
So tejada is playing miserable again and now you want to cut ties? Boy! if you were managing there wouldn’t be anyone left on the roster. Everyone knew including the fans what Reuben Tejada would bring to this team. You hit a panic button and that’s exactly what Boras wants any team to do. So Tejada’s not hitting and the Mets are 3 games above 500. Why not have Granderson shoulder the blame here? After all if he’s hitting anywhere near where we expected he should be the Mets may even have been in first place.
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Can you honestly not see what the difference is between Granderson and Tejada? Sweet lord.
There are players, every year, available for nothing that will wake up and pitch or wake up and hit, because they are professionals. They cost nothing, or nearly nothing. LaTroy Hawkins. Kelly Johnson. Mark Reynolds. Aaron Harang. Chris Capuano. Nelson Cruz. Ervin Santana.
And today, right now, Stephen Drew.
This is theater of the absurd…we look like a excuse for a team. ..are we out of spending money?…doesn’t anyone notice that the world’s most important city has a team that is being run by a carnival clan…smoke and mirrors..With a sideshow of freaks and Ponzi schemers…I have moved 10 thousand miles away and the smell reaches me here..The players I still live for…but the following is fubar
***following was FO
The one option we have is Tovar who is now at AA. What is the problem with a great fielding shortshop who hits maybe 250. Although he is over 300 now. At least they might give it a try.
Jerry Grote I do see the difference. It’s just that the Mets (not me)think Tejada is a starter. I just have a different expectation. The Mets had Hawkins and let him walk. As for Drew, it depends if there really is any funds available. I sure get the impression the team’s payroll is capped at 85 million.
Payroll, if we can believe Sandy, is not an obstacle.
The team has the worst offense in the NL (hits, 2B, 3B, HR, slugging, ops). The biggest offender in that regard is Ruben Tejada, and even if he were to catch absolute fire he’d be not-good-enough.
Meanwhile, we have the *third best record* in the league with 23 games played. Make the deal, swallow your pride and give Drew two years. It’s not impossible to see where this team could be in the playoffs twice before Flores is ready to assume shortstop at the age of 25 in 2016.
Drew, hitting simply at a 740 clip, becomes the Mets third best hitter right now and improves SS by 200 basis points. AND he’s a plus fielder. Cripes, make the deal.
It is time to move Tovar up to AAA and see if he can be a great fielding everyday hitting S/S.
Problem is I don’t believe Sandy. And with attendance off to a sluggish start well…Besides where did the Wilpons put the additional 25 million they got from the new national television contracts? Certainly not into payroll.
Side note, for the difference between Stephen Drew and the Mets Shortstops …
Everth Cabrera is hitting roughly at a .740 pace. He has 16 more hits than the Mets SS, and 6 more doubles. If you added those simple numbers to our team, we’d go from the bottom of the NL to roughly the middle, even with the likes of the Marlins and the Cards.
Jerry Grote. If the Mets don’t try to upgrade shortstop with a viable alternative then you’ll know if SA is being honest about payroll. from what I’ve seen so far this year the Mets if they stay healthy can compete for a wild card.
The front office made it clear going into the offseason that they did not consider Tejada a starting major league shortstop. Yet they did nothing about it. And now, surprise, Tejada is playing like Tejada. And, by the way, there is not a true shortstop to be found anywhere in the organization. Flores is not a shortstop, which is why they moved him off the position. Tovar projects to be a no-hit defensive replacement, at best.
These games being played right now count, and the Mets have some talent. It is not at shortstop.
The Mets are 13-10, second place and a wild card team. If you are taking them seriously, like Sandy proclaims, then this is a solid foundation for a 90 win season. An apparent upgrade would be SS and there is one available just for money. The Mets are positioning themselves where the money spent may be the difference between a wildcard or just missing. Sandy should put his money where his mouth is.
Drew averages over his career a 2.47 WAR per 600 ab’s. His worst year was 2012 with 7 home runs 309/348/657 in only 327 ab’s. Tejada’s best year was 360/335/696 in 2011.The most games that Tejada has appeared in was 2012 with 114 games.
If a trade is the answer and they are giving up a significant prospect or current starting pitcher then the SS should be a signicant upgrade over Drew not Tejada. Otherwise save your trade chips.
in the meantime, let’s play Q a little more while he is hot, but we know that is only a very temporary solution.
Could not agree more Metsense.
If the Mets were sucking it up and looked like they were headed for another oblivious losing season, I would not be clamoring for Drew, because on a losing team he would not be worth it.
But since the Mets are off to a good start and are showing some goodwill, let’s push our chips to the middle of the table and take on Drew’s salary.
+1
Wait. I thought Tejada was the most dangerous hitter on the team? After all, he’s second in the league in intentional walks with 5 and have had 2 IBBs in the 2nd inning.
On a more serious note, it may be time to cut bait. We took a shot that he could more like the 2012 Tejada instead of 2013 Tejada, but he hasn’t really shown that so far. The only caveat is that he’s walking, but mainly because he’s the #8 hitter.
They Mets are 3 games over 500 not a terrible start. They are actually winning this home stand. if they continue to win fans will come out. That said Tejada will never be a “good” player. As for Franklin, and Didi they are both young and have a load of untapped talent. Didi is the better defensive player, he has speed and can hit. He is hitting well in AAA. Franklin started in AAA, was brought up for a week and sent down again on Thursday. He didn’t play for Tacoma last night. The M’s are thinking of making him a Right fielder. There is always Flores, he is not really hitting like last year, but has been the 51’s starting shortstop. The 51’s who have the best record in baseball (Major or Minor League) do seem to be hurt by his play.
Even though Quintinialla was the real hero of last nights game. Neither he or Tejada are the Mets answer for shortstop. In my opinion, somehow getting either or both Didi or Franklin, and also if they get one of them and bring up Flores is the smart thing to do. This puts and added option on the bench for a strong pitch hitter.
Tovar I believe in back in AA.
Tejada never had “promise”. I’m amazed at how many Mets fans bought that lie from the FO.
He was a 2d baseman forced into playing at SS when they disastrously let Reyes walk without even making an offer (I believe Jose and his agents on this one, not Sandy).
Ruben will always be that. Either a weak hitting, fair to slightly above fair 2b, or a backup SS with virtually no range – which is why it looks like he’s making “spectacular” plays.
A ss making spectacular plays is somewhere behind 3rd base or on the other side of 2d. Ruben is stretched just going into the hole.
The simple fact is 3 years later, and we still don’t have a ss. At the very least, once Reyes was let go, it should have been a draft priority and we should have legit AA prospect or AAA replacement ready.
And btw, Stephen Drew is absolutely nothing special and most definitely not a $15mm player.
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1.The Mets were outbid on Reyes, they didn’t let him walk.
2.Gavin Cecchini?
I think the Mets had a choice of who they thought would be a better productive player in the long run and decide to apply their limited budget to David Wright. Expecting Reyes to give them a hometown discount didn’t help either. So how about any free agent shortstops for 2015 who can fill a void for at least 3 or 4 years?
Peralta, at his age got 53/4 last winter. So you think the free agent market is going to be cheaper in 2015? Do you think the Mets will have a protected first round pick? Do you think Sandy would ever pay going rate for a free agent SS? I think not to all three. Signing Drew gives the Mets a SS now. Not signing Drew means you are willing to trade a top prospect or starting pitcher for a premier shortstop (if you can get one) and you are still going to have to pay that established SS top dollar. The third option is to trade for an unestablished SS and pay with a prospect or starting pitcher but how many TDA situations do you want on a team. (Meaning you may have to endure a season or two of growing pains). Drew still makes the most sense to me,
That depends if SA is still here. I do expect Young and Colon to be moved by the trading deadline. So your starting rotation for next season will be 9 million less than this year and the outfield saves 7.25 million. The shortstop problem is not a new issue for the FO. Fix the problem once and for all and stop using mud to fix a pot hole on the road.
I think its highly likley that we’ll grab drew after the draft… if no one else has beaten us to it and if we can keep going at .500 or slightly better. if so, we’ll be in great shape for a wild card run when we can add drew and start to bring up some super 2 pitchers to add the pen or the rotation. We’ll trade reuben before the deadline to give him a fresh start… he deserves it and i wish him the best.
Wilmer Flores will play SS at LV for most of the year to see if he can be the answer at SS in 2015.
Isn’t it ironic how Met fans bash Tejada for his lack of offensive skills and yet as of today he has a higher batting average and OBP than EY and his slugging percentage is only 10 points lower. Leave him alone in the 8 hole for the year and let’s start to voice our concerns with both Eric and Chris Young, Satin, d’Arnaud and Granderson impotent bats.