Ruben Tejada has agreed to a one year major league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals as first reported by Jennifer Langosch of MLB.com.
The deal will pay Tejada $1.5 million dollars and includes no other bonuses.
The former Met infielder has reported to the Cardinals’ Spring Training complex where he took and passed a physical to make the deal official.
Tejada will soften the blow of losing shortstop Jhonny Peralta , who is expected to miss the first two months of the season.
The Cardinals wanted Tejada all along and even tried to trade for him while he was still a Met right after they learned the extent of Peralta’s injury. But reportedly, the Mets were reluctant to eat any portion of the $3 million owed to Tejada.
So the Cardinals pulled back and waited to see if he’d be released, knowing full well that the Mets wanted no part of paying Tejada the full contract – the worst kept secret in baseball.
In the end the Cards get Tejada for half the cost in dollars and without having to give up any players or prospects to acquire him.
Original Report
According to Brendan Kuty of New Jersey Advanced Media, the New York Yankees made a minor league offer to free agent infielder Ruben Tejada, who was released by the Mets on Thursday.
However, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News confirmed that Tejada rejected the Yankees’ offer, while David Lennon of Newsday reports that Tejada is actually considering multiple Major League offers.
Tejada, 26, was due to make $3 million dollars this season after the Mets offered him arbitration, but the team saved roughly $2.5 million because they released him 15 days prior to Opening Day.
He is now a free agent and can sign with any team. He has a career .255 batting average, .330 OBP and .688 OPS in 580 major league games.
