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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.