Over the past several months, it has been rumored that Ruben Tejada’s time with the Mets was limited, either by impending demotion or release. From his lackluster play for the entire 2013 season, to calls for his ouster this winter, to Wilmer Flores’ recent promotion, it seems like Tejada has had one foot out the door for quite some time. It might be time to close that door entirely.
This is not a condemnation on Tejada himself. He seems to play hard, even when not performing up to league averages. And little has been heard about him having any negative attitude despite being constantly surrounded by doubters, especially from his own front office. The truth is, though, he is simply not contributing to this team’s success. Now some may point to his recent heroics versus the Phillies and Yankees, both with his bat and glove. Perhaps Tejada was startled into playing better because of Flores’ presence, and that’s fine. But since those of games, Tejada has reverted quite strongly back to his mediocre ways.
Since the first game in the Philadelphia series on May 9, Tejada is hitting .192/.300/.269 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. That includes those so-called great games he was having that earned him more playing time. It seems clearer and clearer that Tejada’s minor resurrection was based more on hope than anything substantial. So far this season, Tejada has been beneath league average in every major offense category, and his defensive numbers are not any better. In 295.1 innings so far, Tejada has posted a UZR/150 of -5.5. Perhaps if Tejada were a second baseman, his size, range and arm strength would not be a detriment. After all, just look at Dustin Pedroia for Boston. But Tejada is not going to be playing second base with Daniel Murphy entrenched, and there is really nowhere else on the field where Tejada could be a viable option.
So where does that leave him? Well, he could be a bench player who can sub at either SS or 2B, but that faulty glove he’s displayed doesn’t make him a strong candidate as a defensive replacement. Neither does his bat incline one to believe he’d be a good pinch hitter off the bench. In 2014 he’s one for six in those assignments, and surprisingly, that’s his only pinch hit ever. Yes, ever. Can he serve as a pinch runner? If you’ve ever seen Tejada run the bases, you know that answer is no. Despite some queer assumptions by the rest of the league about his speed, Tejada has never shown the ability to steal bases or even score from first with any regularity.
So now comes the time when an unfortunate statement must be said. Ruben Tejada is not a major league caliber player. It’s something a lot of Mets fans have noticed for at least this season and last, and there were even some doubts about his overall talent level when he was hitting .289 a few seasons back. He doesn’t hit for a high average consistently, he doesn’t hit for any power whatsoever, he has taken a considerable step back defensively, and he has no speed to offer on the bases. Therefore, there can be no reasonable argument for keeping him as an everyday player, and maybe not even in a bench role.
It pains me to say this ever about a baseball player; especially one I personally had high hopes for a few seasons ago. These men go out and give their all every single day, and for that, we fans should applaud them. But the cruel fact is that sometimes, some guys just don’t perform when it matters. Not everyone gets a ribbon. Not everyone gets to be a winner. It’s life, and it sucks sometimes.
If Tejada wants to come punch me in the face for writing this, that’s fine. But for the sake of this team winning, the tough choice must be made. Will Flores perform any better? Maybe, maybe not. Will Stephen Drew be signed? Who knows. The only thing we know for sure is that Tejada is not the future at SS, and this team has its eyes set on tomorrow.
Demote Tejada immediately, and see if he can build a little trade value in Vegas. Call up Tovar to back up Flores. Tovar is similar to Tejada, but with 1) a better glove and 2) never strikes out. So he is better as a late inning role or a guy who might be needed in a late inning situation to make contact rather than strike out.
Some will cite Ruben’s on base % not being that terrible – it is terrible, though, as even he will get pitched around in 2 out situations to get to pitch to what is so far the worst hitting staff in major league history. It thus inflates his on base %.
The problem is Terry loves Tejada and when Terry falls in love with a player he can do no wrong! Maybe Tejada has something over Terry like naked pictures of Terry with another woman or Tejada is Terry’s bookie and Terry owes him a lot of money or maybe Tejada has a voodoo
doll or went to a witch and had a spell put on him? The funny thing is even if Tejada was having his best year he still wouldn’t hit more than one HR and drive in more than 30 rbis anyway and the fact that he’s not even close to those #’s they can’t afford to carry a
SS or any other position for that matter that can’t hit with the offensive problems the mets
have! All we can hope for is that Sandy snaps Terry out of his spell and tells him to play
Flores!!
I think that because he has hit in the past, another team might consider him a project. There is always someone who will say, “I can inspire this kid to work” and blame Sandy for running him down, and so on.
I really think that with the core of young pitching, we should look to make some trades now.
I am curious: How long do we keep Granderson on the playing field? It has been 1/4th of the season. Does he get the entire season to turn it around, due to the money spent? Reading Sandy’s remarks today, it appears that the outfield dimensions will be changed in 2015.
He is awful and a joke. Why a joke. This organization treats its fans (or customers) terribly and purposely play players who should be benched. They reward players who play poorly, and bench the players who should be starting. This sounds crazy! But it true.
People seem to forget that Tejada was originally a 2b. People don’t get moved from short to second b/c of their great range. Just the opposite. And at 2b with Reyes at short he is not really a minus. Of course, that points even more to the horrendous decision to let Reyes go, which 3 years later they are still trying to overcome.
More importantly, since his recall, Wilmer has shown even softer hands than I thought, and a far better arm than Tejada has. I’d even call his arm a 3+ (3 in the ML Scouting Bureau is Major League average).
He has not had enough chances to show his range, but there were a few balls hit up the middle that he showed good anticipation on which may indicate his range is better than expected too.
I want to see this play out.
Of course, it was just announced that AGAIN LAGARES IS NOT PLAYING!!!!! So, it just goes to show you, the team, meaning the manager, and management, just can’t get out of their own way.
Incredible.
And Drew, of course, just signed with the Red Sox.
Fire terry collins. Release Tehada why is Lagares not playing
A fair and accurate appraisal of the Tejada situation. Nice job Patrick. It is very true that if the Mets are to get to the next level, they will need a major league shortstop much better than Tejada.
Sandy had a whole winter to obtain shortstop depth and didn’t. That was very poor planning by Sandy. The fact that he did nothing to upgrade the position made his goal of 90 wins a “hollow” goal without any substance.
True release Tehada Chris young put Eric Campbell in left field