This morning’s edition of Fair or Foul features an excerpt from the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers who writes an ominous portrayal of the 2012 Mets after slotting them at number 25 in his MLB Power Rankings.
Nothing will matter more at this point than the question of whether the 22-year-old Tejada is capable of replacing the ultra-popular Jose Reyes at shortstop; it also wouldn’t hurt if Reyes turned into a $106 million flop in Miami. Reyes never really wanted to go on the free-agent market. He would have been fine being a lifelong Met, and might have thought he was going to be one as recently as July 31. That’s when Alderson declined efforts from teams such as the Giants, Tigers and Brewers to trade for him. But the Mets were hoping Reyes’ injury history — he has averaged only 98 games over the last three years — would lessen the interest in him on the market.
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria instead traveled to New York to start a whirlwind romance at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 3, the start of the free-agent period. Tejada essentially became the Mets’ shortstop at that moment. He’s a solid fielder — better than Reyes, according to defensive metrics — but has shown only average hitting ability. Should Tejada slump, Collins will turn to former Cub and Pirate Ronny Cedeno, who signed for $1 million. ~ Phil Rogers
Not that it really matters or that it will change anything at this point, but what are your expectations for Ruben Tejada this season? Furthermore, what type of numbers do you expect Jose Reyes to put up this season in that stacked Miami Marlins lineup? Obviously the warm weather is exactly what the doctors ordered for Reyes’ hamstrings and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him score 120 runs this season while swiping 40+ stolen bases and even flexing a little muscle and hitting 10-12 home runs in his Marlins debut.
