Nuclear Meltdown, Japan, Libya, the Economy… and Second Base

What’s wrong with the title?

 
I mean, the first four items mentioned are some serious shit, but the more I’m on line, the more I realize that the real story out there is who in God’s name is going to play friggin second base for the New York Mets.

 
First, it’s definitely Daniel Murphy, then, all of a sudden, everyone falls in love with Luis Castillo again.

 
Next we here that the manager hates Castillo and is going to name Luis Hernandez. But wait, Brad Emaus gets reported he’s the man, if Brad can’t do it, no one can.

 
Jordany Valdespin and Ruben Tejada fans keep tweeting they shouldn’t have been sent down and I’m waiting for Edgardo Alfonzo to ask for his yearly, ‘come on coach, give me another shot” plea.

 
Is this the best we can do, guys?

 
Most people think jobs are won in spring training. What they don’t realize is all ST is, is a place to be eliminated.

 
No baseball suit gives a rat’s ass what your batting average or fielding percentage is in March. If they did, David Wright would be sent down and Felipe Alou would have never played in the majors.

 

Here’s my opinion how this Mets second base thing works:

 
1. The job belongs to the last person that had it.
 

2. The brass does everything they can to find something they don’t like about the guy who was the last person to have the job.

 
3. If he shows up on time, he’s late.

 
4. If he’s quiet in the locker room, he’s not a team player.
 

5. If he laughs at a joke, he’s not taking the job serious enough.

 
6. If he laughs at a joke, that was in Spanish, he’s hiding something.

7. The manager’s job is to mention to one of the press guys a different name every day that impresses him at second base.

8. The reporter writes a story on it, but first tweets a tweet (God, I hate that expression…)

9. Next, 2397 other Mets writers and bloggers also tweet what the manager said.

10. The deflection has been accomplished and the team can get back to playing baseball.

The Keepers: – #7 – SS – Ruben Tejada

 

 

 

 

Photo by Michael G. Baron

 

7. SS Ruben Tejada

Tejada started the 2007 season with the VSL Mets where he had a wonderful season (.364/.466/.479 in 121 at bats, 16 SB). He was promoted and came stateside to finish the season starting for the GCL Mets (.283/.401/.367 in 120 at bats, 16 SB).

2007 Tejada was named the recipient of the 2007 Sterling Award as the MVP of the VSL Mets.

1-1-10: Forecast: – 2010 will be the come to Jesus year for Tejada. So far, his combined three year, three level, pro career has produced .262/.331/.341/.672 in 1105 at bats. And, he’ll play 2010 as a 20 year old. Trust me, if he hits .280 in AAA, there will be a lot of meetings in Queens over whether or not they renew the Reyes option year.

I wrote on 2-10-10: – Ruben Tejada – one of the future “Class of 2011”… Tejada is being converted to a second baseman (who isn’t in this organization?), so we’ll keep an eye on any increase in errors. He’s still very young and the only reason that his next step is Queens is because he’s done with all the levels by the end of this season. Will he become the 2011 Mets second baseman. Did Brian Bannister become the Mets SP5? We’ll see…

5-22-10: – SS Ruben Tejada: The 19-year old Tejada impressed everyone during ST and almost made the 25-man, but common sense took over and he was returned to the minors for seasoning. He has hit at every level which includes this season at AAA (.299), and, with the recent developments involving the health of Luis Castillo, might be back in Queens before I finish writing this. Tejada experimented with second base (who doesn’t on this team?) but he’s now back playing short, sparking rumors involving just who is going to play that position in Queens next season

1-27-11: – New manager Terry Collins is on record saying that Tejada will play AAA/Buffalo in 2011 unless there is an injury or trade involving Jose Reyes. He has also returned to his natural position, shortstop. Good. That’s where he belongs. It will be interesting to see where the Mets play all the prospect-type shortstops behind him, especially Jordany Valdespin. JV was protected on the 40-man during the off-season and is also ready to play at the AAA level.

2-24-11 – Up: – SS/2B Ruben Tejada – you always have to appreciate a ballplayer that takes the off-season serious, and Ruben has. No one has ever questioned his defensive skills, but his first shot at playing in Queens caused comparisons to Anderson Hernandez. So, Tejada went home and concentrated on bulking up and perfecting his swing. Word is he will never win the home run crown; however, everyone is impressed with his new dedication to improve his offensive statistics.

3-3-11: – Up – SS/2B Ruben Tejada – no one expects Tejada to make the 25-man, but you have to agree that he has impressed so far this spring… with the bat. Through March 3rd, he’s hitting .556. I still think this is the 2012 Mets shortstop, so let the kid keep working on his hitting in Buffalo

Stock: Ryota Igarashi, Fernando Martinez, Ruben Tejada, Justin Turner, Jenrry Mejia, Matt Harvey, Carlos Beltran, Bay, Jason Isringhausen

 

Up – RP Ryota Igarashi – very impressive Monday… this was Igar’s back-to-back performance which ended with striking out the side. Last pitch was a 93 mph fastball. There’s a tremendous amount of competition for the pen jobs this spring. So far, so good.

 

Up – OF Fernando Martinez - Martinez has come out swinging in spring training this year, batting .600 through March 3rd. It will be interesting to see if he keeps this up heading to April 1st. There really isn’t any place in the Mets lineup for him right now (Bay, Pagan, Beltran), and I can’t see him sitting in the dugout either. He probably will still wind up starting the year in Buffalo and the Mets will keep their medical fingers crossed that they have finally found Beltran’s replacement in 2012.

I watched F-Mart take a 1-2 count pitch in the second inning of Monday’s game against Detroit.. it was a long slow curve that wound up in the dirt, but it was the kind of pitch a minor league usually swings at… and misses. This is just the kind of pitch that looks like a strike for almost the entire distance to the plate, but then it just dives into the dust. He didn’t swing and got the second ball. Sure, he wound up grounding out to second, but that was a major league moment for Fernando. Plate patience takes time and it looks like he is developing into a major league hitter.

Also… the shutting down of Carlos Beltran for five days will only give the Mets more chance to evaluate F-Mart’s possible contribution in Queens this year.

 

Up – SS/2B Ruben Tejada – no one expects Tejada to make the 25-man, but you have to agree that he has impressed so far this spring… with the bat. Through March 3rd, he’s hitting .556. I still think this is the 2012 Mets shortstop, so let the kid keep working on his hitting in Buffalo

 

Down – IF Justin Turner – they say that batting average and earned run average don’t mean anything in spring training (Pat Misch proved this last year when he went 0.00 and was sent to Buffalo), but when you are a long shot at winning a 25-man slot, it wouldn’t kill ya to get a hit or two.

 

Up: SP Jenrry Mejia – Through March 3rd, Mejia has had two successful outings and is holding down a 0.00 ERA. Like Ruben Tejada, no one expects Mejia to make the Queens squad on April 1st, but it’s nice to see the kids putting pressure on the rest of the team.

 

Down: RP Jason Isringhausen – telling the media that you will retire unless you make the 25-man not only doesn’t help your chances, but could be the tie-breaker to release a 35-year old. I’m not a big fan of 35+ players filling in a roster, especially on a team building for the future. Give the slot to a 23-year old and thank Jason for stopping by.

 

Up: SP Matt Harvey - Harvey finally pitched for the Mets, on Saturday, against the Italian team that is being coached by Mike Piazza. Word from the camp was he sat in the 92-93 range and pitched a scoreless inning. Welcome to the team, Matt.

 

Up: RF Carlos Beltran - boy, he looked good on Sunday… I wasn’t the only person surprised that he slid home. So was he. This team stands no chance of making a playoff run without this guy and, whether you want him traded in June or not, he’s been a productive Met since the day he arrived.

 

Up: LF Jason Bay - I don’t know if you have noticed, but Bay is having quite the spring. Another of the Lost Mets of last year, things would sure be easier if this guy produced the kind of numbers he has done in the past.

 

Up: RP Jason Isringhausen - Monday was a real big day fir Izzy. He finally threw his famous changeup and it was as nasty as I remembered it. He’s scheduled to pitch back-to-back on Tuesday and it will interesting to see how that works out. Fast ball sat at 90… curve dived to the ground and struck out last batter faced… hmm…