30
2011
Ruben Tejada: Rey Ordonez or Something Even Better?
An article by 
No matter how old some of the readers here are – young or old will surely remember the “Gloved One”, Rey Ordonez. Known for his defensive wizardy at shortstop, Rey-Rey debuted with the Mets in 1996 and was the Mets’ starting shortstop for the next seven seasons. He was a key component to what Sports Illustrated tabbed “The Best Infield Ever”.
The great Ozzie Smith once said of Ordonez after watching him throw out a runner at home from his knees, “I can definitely say he is the second-coming of me.” (Isn’t Wiki wonderful?)
Oodonez went on to win three consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Mets and even set set a Major League record for shortstops by playing in 101 consecutive games without committing a fielding error.
As gifted as Ordonez was with his leather, the same could not be said of his exploits with the lumber. In nine big league seasons, Ordonez posted a .246/.289/.310/.599 slash. Hey, nobody’s perfect.
Now imagine having a shortstop who could be just as gifted on defense, but with a slash somewhere around .280/.370/.345/.715 to go with glove. You would have to admit, the thought is rather alluring, right?
Enter Mets incumbent shortstop Ruben Tejada.
At just 22 years of age, the talented Mets youngster spent very little time if any on a Mets top prospect list during the 2009-2011 seasons, but here he is on the verge of replacing one of the best position players ever to come through the Mets farm system in Jose Reyes. As the world’s most famous dry cleaner; George Jefferson would say, “Now that’s moving on up. To the big-time.”
Now I’m not advocating that Tejada is as good with the glove as Ordonez was (not yet), but check out this piece by Mark Simon of ESPN who points out the following:
In 353 innings at shortstop, Tejada was credited with 24 Out of Zone plays. That’s a significant number.
Tejada’s rate of one Out of Zone play for every 14.7 innings played ranked best among all major league shortstops that played at least 350 innings at the position last season. Additionally, Tejada’s play at the position passes the eye test.
Simon explains Out of Zone plays like this: A fielder gets credit for an Out of Zone play when he gets an out on a ball fielded in a spot in which fewer than 50 percent of players at his position recorded an out within that 365-day period. In other words, a shortstop would get credit for an out of zone play on a ball fielded deep in the shortstop/third base hole, or on a ball that required ranging directly up the middle to make the play.
That sounds easy enough to understand, basically he’s saying that Tejada made more plays than the average shortstop, on the most occasions last season. Like this one for example:
Get the idea?
Nobody is expecting Tejada to replace Jose Reyes, but it’s not far-fetched to say he may already be a far better defender than the former Mets star.
Isn’t a run saved just as important as a run scored? I think it is, and with the way our rotation is shaping up for next season, I think they are going to need all the help they can get.
And if Ruben Tejada can make some incremental improvements to his offensive game along the way – something I fully expect him to do – then we could have something special at shortstop by the time we’re ready to make some noise again in the NL East.
Oh, oh, oh… Did I mention that he batted .419 in high-leverage situations last season and .309 with runners on base?
There’s a lot to like here, and with Jose Reyes now sleeping with the fishes, lets embrace Ruben Tejada and give this kid a chance. I truly believe that our patience with Tejada will be rewarded. LGM
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Somewhere in between Mark Lemke and Rey Ordonez.
Edgardo Alfonzo is a better comp for Tejada IMO. Both have the same great eye, short swing and incredible poise for such young players. Both also have great fundamentals and instincts.
I don’t think it’s impossible for Tejada to hit 15 HR’s or so either, but not for a couple of years. Fonzie didn’t break out until he was 23 or 24 and I always had the feeling Fonzie was really a year or two older than listed. Both I think are better at 2B than SS.
Overall we have a chance to have 3 guys up here by the end of 2013 at the latest who can provide a pretty good troika at MI in Tejada, Valdespin and Havens. Good mix of different skills and some competition and depth on the ML roster.
Comparing Tejada’s fielding to Ordonez is like comparing David Wright’s slugging to Albert Pujols. Let’s be reasonable. Ordonez is compared to Ozzie Smith. Both were magicians.
Tejada may be more comparable to Jose Reyes. Jose was good, but not great. But I don’t see Tejada ever coming close to Reyes’ offensive numbers. Bud Harrelson II we don’t need. Rey Ordonez bat II we don’t need. If he’s a Tejada in the field and can hit .275 over a full seasons with 50 RBI, that would be great.
I truly like this kid, but i think he has been put in a position to fail by sandy and his goons, he should’ve been the starting 2B for the new york mets for years to come instead of trying to replace the best player in the franchise, now everything he does will be compare by the fans as to what reyes does and did for this franchise. i hope i am wrong, i like tejada, but i think those are some big shoes he’ll try to fill at SS for the new york mets..
You’re either dreaming or drinking the Koolaid, which one is it? In two years Tejada will be playing American Legion ball with Argenis Reyes and Anderson Hernandez. There’s a reason he was not regarded a prospect, he sucks. Look at the other shortstops in the Mets division.
KM, you may have missed this article from the Times earlier in the year–July.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/sports/baseball/mets-tejada-ex-neighbor-of-a-stadium-now-works-in-a-big-one.html
No guarantee it will change your mind about Tejada, but I think your assessment of him is about as wrong as it gets.
Alex, may be absolutely right about the undue pressure he will face at short, and I certainly think he has a long way to go before an Ordonez comparison makes any sense, let alone before he makes us forget about Reyes. On the other hand, I feel that the Panamanian Kid is only going to get better over the next five or six seasons. Here’s hoping he will remain a Met as he improves in MLB!
I would just like to mention that I’ve been in love with Tejada for over a year now. I’m talking in a fan-girl way, not necessarily a stats way. I find something about sliding into third after hitting your first home run because no one can tell if the ball made it out of Wrigley field, then getting up and trotting home when they find the ball in the netting incredibly adorable.
But the kid can work a 16 pitch walk. Notice that when he got sent down, he was hitting something like .220 and by the end of the season he was hitting .280. That means he had quite an awesome second half. I like his clutch batting too. And I like smoking hot defensive plays, whether they be from short or 2B. And now I sound like a fan-girl again.
Tejada doesn’t need to be Reyes and I certainly don’t want him to try because that will kill his game.
That’s a very good point you made, Jax: Tejada shows greater and greater patience at the plate. Not necessarily a sign of a great hitter, but a smarter one at least.
Tejada’s best tools I think is with the stick, being patient at the plate, not trying to do too much.
The problem is Collins has already stated he won’t be batting atop the lineup to spare him the pressure – if you ask me, a huge mistake.
One, Collins hasn’t learned not to prematurely make decisions, especially during the offseason and before spring training.
Two, because Thole batting 7th and Tejada 8th, shortens the lineup and diminishes protection for the 6th hitter.
And three because Tejada handles the bat well, performs well in the clutch, is a table setter, without power who should be allowed to do what he does best for the benefit of the rest of the lineup- – table set, get on base for the big boys, give the leadoff hitter a chance to advance.
It all depends on how Torres is playing. If Torres is playing like he did in 2010 or anything close to it, Tejada has nowhere to be other than 8. With his speed and experience he’d be better at the top. Then Murph has to be 2. So Tejada would have to be 7 or 8. If Torres is sh*tting the bed, than Tejada will be hitting up top no doubt, no matter what Collins says before the turn of the new year, which I agree he really needs to stop doing.
I don’t care what the cited stats say, I’m not impressed with Tejada’s shortstop D including range.
He’ll quickly be overexposed playing every day just as he was when filling in for Reyes. He’ll eventually settle in and make the routine plays but lacks the arm and quickness to his left to be anything but average in plays to first base. It’s very cute now when he makes good plays because he’s still young and isn’t expected to do these things thus becoming a bonus. The hype will inevitably erode especially when someone with real natural gifts, is playing in comparison such as a Jose Reyes.
The player in the upper levels of Mets minors with the natural tools in Jordany Valdespin. Whether he puts it all together from the neck up, remains to be seen.
Ooops. Meant to say he lacks quickness and arm to his right, in the hole.
Well in this comparison your giving up some glove for some bat but niether is going to wow anyone.
Ordonez was a damn hoover for ground balls!
Too bad he hit as many as he caught.
Tejada may actually hit much better tha we expect with regular playing time but I don’t see any power coming out of him and as a singles hitter he will need to utilize some of that speed he uses to get to ground ball to also steal some bases.
My worry is he will wind up the leadoff hitter which I think is a mistake.
I project him to be an ideal #2 hitter though.
Too bad we just lost our leadoff hitter!
A lineup of:
Leadoff ????
Tejada
Murphy
Davis
Wright
Duda
Bay
Thole
sounds good but it does require Murphy to be able to play 2B.
And I still would bet money Wright won’t be available to us after July!
Comapring this kid to Ordonez ir Reyes is totally unfair to Tejada. On a team with little expectations throwing the BS around like this will only make him get booed sooner. He won’t field like Ordonez, and he won’t hit or run like Reyes. Why don’t you let him become who he is….ruben tejada.
I thought Ordonez’s defense was a little over rated. Perhaps he bought into his own hype and tried to make flashy plays too frequently.
Anyway, Tejada’s range is a question, but if he can keep that around the MLB average, he’ll be better than at least 50% of the SS out there if you factor in a respectable bat.
Of course donal……The entire world is wrong and you are right about Ordonez…Aferall if he were really any good he would have been signed by your owner lord sandy or his clone Beane. Since he wasn’t, he had to have been crappy, right? Sure donal…… You don’t get paid for this hapless post. Even lord sandy puked on this one.
Do we get the derek jeter comparison article next week?He has utilityman (nothing wrong with that) written all over him and his best position is 2nd base not ss.The pressure of being compared to Jose every day in the media will probably have him out of town within 2 years.Too bad, because he does have some skills as as been mentioned above
The kid is 21 years old playing in the major leagues and just had a very respectable season. I don’t think it’s very fair to label him a utilityman yet. He’s supposed to be a senior in college.
He’s a young heady guy with good hands and a decent arm….. he has a chance to be a ML middle infielder. A Starter?….. I’m not sure….but he’s very young.
Beyond my observations I’m totally floored by the assertions that He’s a Plus-Plus range infielder….and he did make some errors last season. I don’t see a spectacular fielder….YET. The bat is a work in progress. Again…he has a chance to be a Player—he doesn’t scream “WOW!”, to me.
If he becomes “Marco Scutaro” it will be a very nice outcome.
Personally I don’t really care for punch and judy hitters with great gloves. The minors are filled with them.
I thought Ordonez (dubbed ‘Harpo’ because of the physical likeness) made routine plays look spectacular. As a hitter he had a lifetime OPS of .599 – You get to .600 just by spelling your name right. It was like have two pitchers hit at the bottom of the lineup.
Tejada mde be a tad better offensively (.653 OPS – hey, he spelled his name right) but he’s not close to th glove of Harpo. In fact, I think Reyes covers more ground and had a much stronger arm.
So but not resigning Reyes, the Mets have given up a ton by replacing him with Tejada. It’s like replacing Pujols with Justin Turner.
The Mets, as team, will continue to head backwards util the team is so bad it can only get better. That should hapen by 2015.
I am very optimistic about Tejada. He’s no Reyes and he’s no Ordonez, but I really don’t want him (nor does the team need him) to be either. I am going way back and saying the short stop he is most like in Met history is Bud Harrelson; a plus fielder, and successful in the ‘high-leverage’ hitting situations.
Keep in mind as well as he hit and fielded last year, he was split time between short (when Jose was hurt yet again), second, and the bench (when Mets were committed to testing Murphy at 2nd). Knowing he is the short stop should stabilize his game. I am not convinced that the pressure will get to him; I think there was more pressure on him last year as his play would be a primary component in the commitment level the Mets showed Jose. Being a completely different player batting lower in the order will be enough of a separation as to not pressure him to BE Jose.
Alex Rodriguez is one of the best players of our generation. I can’t stand the guy, but you’d have to think he’s nearly impossible to replace. Lets take a look at the 2 teams that had to replace him:
1) After the 2000 season where the Mariners won 91 games, A-Roid left Seattle for Texas where he made $22million in 2001. Seattle Mariners replaced A-Roid with Carlos Guillen (salary $285k) and won 116 games. That +25 games and a savings of $21,715,000. Texas went from 71 wins in 2000 to 73 wins in 2001; that $11,000,000 per win.
2) After the 2003 season where the Rangers won 71 games, A-Roid was traded to the Yankees where he made $22million in 2004. The Rangers replaced A-Roid with Michael Young (salary $450k) and won 89 games. That +18 games and a savings of $21,550,000. Yankees won 101 in 2003 with Robin Ventura ($5 million) and won 101 games in 2004. That’s zero added wins for $17,000,000
I am not saying that the recipe for success is to get rid of a star, but if a guy like Alex Rodriguez can get replaced twice and the team that got rid of him has a has an average uptick of 21.5 wins (25 and 18), it’s not the end of the world. Young had some talent, but he was not A-Roid, Guillen was not better than what Tejada is now.
I guess for some it is fun to panic and whine, but the reality wins and losses are based on performance – not pedigree.
[...] Oodonez went on to win three consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Mets and even set set a Major League record for shortstops by playing in 101 consecutive games without committing a fielding error…. more [...]