Welcome to the post-Reyes era, otherwise known as the spring of 2010 (and possibly much longer). In previous years, the Mets would have inserted either a utility man or a class B no-hit veteran signed to a minor league deal into the lineup for a month, and simply limped along. But this year’s Jose Reyes outage has a more interesting upshot – because it may provide the Major League bow of prospect Ruben Tejada.
Yes, you read that right – moderately-touted prospect Ruben Tejada.
Though he’s only 20, it’s been four years since the Mets signed Tejada out of Panama in ‘06 – a slim six-footer with shortstop hands, great range, good arm and a so-so (but developing) bat. He hasn’t attracted the attention of prospects like Ike Davis and Josh Thole, but he’s rated the best defensive prospect in the organization by Baseball America, and number 9 all-around in junior Metsland.
Moreover, the kid played for Panama in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and showed poise and very strong defense. Yeah, his offensive stats haven’t been gang-buster, but look what he did as the youngest player in all of Double-A last year:
| Club | Class | AB | H | HR | RBI | SB | R | CS | 2B | 3B | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Binghamton (EAST) | AA | 488 | 141 | 5 | 46 | 19 | 59 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 37 | 59 | .289 | .351 | .381 | .732 |
Tejada cut way on his strikeouts after a free-swinging year in Single A – and he showed a hint of pop at the plate with 32 extra basehits. He can run – though not like a healthy Reyes.
Anyway, this is rapidly becoming a spring for the next Mets era – rather than one for this Mets era. You know, the one where Wright, Reyes, Beltran and Delgado led a mini-dynasty. In any case, Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus likes the move (while holding down expecations on Tejada):
Now the first reaction is to laugh this off as the worst idea ever (hey, it is the Mets), as we’re talking about a 20 year-old who played at Double-A last year and while solid, didn’t exactly light things up with a batting line of .289/.351/.381 for Binghamton. Thing is, giving Tejada the job, at least temporarily, might not be such a bad idea.
When one thinks of a Latin American shortstop (Tejada is Panamanian), the expectation is a raw athlete oozing with tools — but Tejada is the exact opposite. He has a near-zero chance of ever being a star, but at the same time, he’s one of the most fundamentally sound 20-year-olds you’ll ever see. He works the count, makes consistent contact (59 strikeouts in 553 plate appearances last year), and while his range at the position is merely average, he makes the plays on the balls he gets to. Strikeouts and out-of-control fielding are the things that usually spell doom for a rookie, but Tejada has both of those bases covered, so as long as Reyes is out, why not see what the young player can do?
This wouldn’t be another case of the Mets curbing the development of some high-ceiling prospect by rushing him to the majors; Tejada is pretty much all he’s ever going to be right now, and he’s certainly not going to be worse than Cora.
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- Ruben Tejada could be New York Mets shortstop on Opening Day in Jose Reyes’ absence (Adam Rubin/NY Daily News) (ballbug.com)
- The Mets’ Future Suddenly Feels Far From Barren (nytimes.com)
- “Thump” That Was the Other Shoe Dropping on the Jose Reyes Saga (kranepoolsociety.com)
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