21
2012
The Mets 2013 Keepers: Ruben Tejada
An article by 
Tejada looks to be more than a stopgap at short
There aren’t many definite keeper caliber players on the current Mets roster, but there is no doubt Tejada is one of them. He is not there yet, but he may be on his way to being a “core” guy for us.
Ruben, 22, has shown that he has the potential to be a much better hitter than most fans, scouts, coaches, and probably our own General Manager, even thought. He appears to have all the makings of being our shortstop and number two hitter of the future. Tejada is currently batting .307, which is a much higher average than anticipated. He has a nice level swing, and as a result makes consistent solid contact hitting a lot of line drives. He also has decent speed, although you may not be able to tell by his lone stolen base so far this year.
Tejada was well known for his glove prior to this season. We knew he had the goods there and he has not disappointed. He has above average range, a solid arm and a good glove. He has nine errors on the season thus far, which is a number that we would like to go down, and one that probably will as he develops.
The one knock on Ruben is that he really has no power to speak of. He has only one homer this year, and just two over three seasons in his young career.
However, instead of home run power he has gap power, and will hopefully become more of a doubles hitter as he bulks up. He already appears to be improving in this area as he had 15 doubles last season and already has 20 this year.
Tejada’s contract will be very favorable for the next 5 years. He is not eligible for arbitration until 2014 and is slated to become a free agent following the 2016 season.
While Ruben may not have the speed and power of Jose Reyes, he definitely has the tools to be a solid Major League shortstop. Tejada has separated himself from the pack due to his solid all around game. He doesn’t seem to have a glaring weakness such as Ike’s strikeouts or Murphy’s defense. Ruben continues to flash his potential very early in his career. He will still make the occasional poor throw or have a ball go through the wickets, but that is all part of the development process.
Mets fans, we have a very young talented shortstop we can build around for the next 10 years. That is not very easy to come by. At least it looks as though we have one critical up the middle position filled. Now if we could only solidify the other three.
About the Author: Dan Valis
I am a staff writer for Mets Merized Online. I am a Mets team analyst with a focus on the minor league system, as well as the major league club. I am a lifelong New Yorker who was born and raised to be a Mets fan. The ups and downs of being a Mets fan is what makes following this team so much fun, but at times so frustrating. You can follow me on Twitter @BgAppleMetsTalk.
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Jeez – didn’t you know that writing about Ruben Tejada was totally done by other sites already?
haha… just kidding
No doubt about it – Ruben is a Keeper ™
haha…thanks for having my back jessep by the way.
Mr Tejada has been one the highlights to this season. I don’t know if he will be a career .300 hitter but if he can maintain a .280 avg I’ll take that right now.
the question is, does sandy like him enough? To answer that, look at the first round pick this year. he does not believe this kid is the future SS of this team, he has a good discipline at the plate and an above average defense, but he hits for no power which could be a concern down the road. He would’ve been the perfect 2nd hitter and 2nd baseman of this team had the GM decided to sign or even attempt to sign jose reyes. But.. I guess we will see that backup IF we pick this year shoved down our throats in a couple of years.
Is there a reason you call Cecchini a backup infielder?
You know he wasn’t a backup infielder in school right?
I’m sure Nickeas was a starting Catcher in school too…whats your point?
Why is this guy going to be a backup? Well as the point of the piece is trying to say Tejada is a Keeper!
So is Murphy despite what you think about him!
well the pick from this year is still a few years away and by that time we will know if the mets have committed to Murphy. If not i’m sure scenarios to have both Tejada and Cecchini playing up the middle will be explored
by the time Cecc is about 22, Murphy will be in his 30s and hitting FA. Or could long since be gone.
but don’t you know that teams draft HS guys based on who is on the current ML roster?
OK you got me curios with this Pete so I went to see what was behind this statement and Oh did I find it. Just wow.
yes it was very interesting to say the least
Solid post. This kid has been a revelation this season. Imagine somebody this young stepping into the shoes of Jose Reyes and then going out and having one of the best all around seasons on the team? I’m totally sold and he’s definitely a keeper but I’m still curious about why we’ve spent so much in the draft at shortstop the last two years? And we’re talking big way over slot money. Head scratcher to be sure unless the two big ones are shifting to second base or outfield.
well, it is a premium position. And lots and lots of guys some in as SS and end up moving to other positions (especially out of HS). Combine that with the development time (4-5 years for a HS kid), and who the hell knows what the ML roster will look like after trades, FA, injuries, aging.
absolute worst (actually, best!) case scenario is you end up with multiple stud SSs fighting for the Mets job, and can use the extra at 2B or in a trade to fill another hole.
‘Mets fans, we have a very young talented shortstop we can build around for the next 10 years.’
I couldn’t agree more.
Thing is, we had one of those in Ruben’s predecessor and we let him walk. Still ticks me off.
As much as I liked Reyes and miss his leadoff spot, Tejada is better than most thought he would be. Remember the last time we won a WS. who we had at SS- NOT a superstar at all–Rafael Santana and Tejada is much better than he was.
but I think Carter was a tad better than Thole (and Piazza last time they went to the WS!)
I agree that Carter is a tad better than Thole, but this article is about SS Tejada.
I was just responding to a common theme (in their WS years, the SS sucked, so it is fine to have a sucky SS, something along those lines).
Yes, the SS those years was a good glove/no hit, but that was offset by having well above average hitting at Catcher, and of course, pitching.
same with 2000 and the “bobby is a genius for going to the WS with a mediocre OF’. Well, that ignores the point that there were 4 IFs (including catcher) that were way above average. heck, i think they averaged close to 1.000 OPS that year. When your 2B and C are having years that would be great for a corner OF, you can get away with Benny out there!
Theory, you can’t go by that… Yes we had a SS who was good defensively, but it’s not as if reyes was a bad Defensive SS. We had pitching, pitching and more pitching every time we made a WS run, you can look that up. In fact, with all the injuries in the pitching staff that we had during 2006-2008 it was the offense carrying us for most part. You cannot compare what we did in our WS wins with reyes, it makes no sense.
Tejada has been a greeat surprise to many, he has great discipline at the plate and he’ll get better with time, however, he has little to no power,he’d be a perfect #2 hitter and 2nd baseman imo
My point is that you don’t need a superstar at SS to win. I would rather have Reyes at SS and Tejada at 2nd also. Santana was the weakest hitter on 86 team but solid glove up the middle.
You don’t need a good hitter at any particular position (including traditional big bat ones), as long as the team overall has enough offense generating runs.
Your theory only worked because there were superstars all around the non-superstar!
What superstars will be around the SS next year or 2014?
Can you even count Wright to be here in 2014?
No you don’t need a superstar at every position to succeed.
You just need Superstars PERIOD andf as long as you have enough you can make do everywhere there isn’t one!
If not for Hernandez, Strawberry, Carter, and Knight drawing everyones attention Santana would have been a goat!
So basically you’re taking a shot at reyes then? Not sure why the need to point out we won a WS with a defensive minded SS, times have changed, trust me, that is why a guy like Ozzie smith is in the HOF, he was a magician at SS but couldn’t hit a lick, there’s many good defensive SS who if ozzie were playing at this time be better than him. Now SS are suppsoed to be not only good defensively, but offensively as well..
Stick, i find it funny you took at shot at me stalking that P0S jessep yet you’re trying your hardest to engage in conversation with me, do yourself and this blog a favor and don’t comment on anything i said ok.
Reyes’ biggest slurper getting all defensive for no apparent reason. Nobody took a shot at Reyes. If only you defended players that actually play for the Mets then maybe you’d be less of a d-bag. Nah you’d still be a d-bag.
I was NOT taking shot at Reyes. I wish he was still here and I think he made mistake of leaving. One of best players we ever had. Bad timing for his free agency.
Got you,was not sure what was your stance on him…
Tejada is a solid ball player. I think he projects to be a number 2 hitter if he continues to build on what he did this year. He’s not a prototypical leadoff man but he’s the best option to hit lead off right now.