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Tejada’s Value: Castillo’s Replacement


By Mike Silva ~ March 21st, 2010. Filed under: Mike Silva, New York Mets.

When Ruben Tejada’s name comes up it usually is as a short term replacement for Jose Reyes. By all accounts his defense has been impressive this spring, but there have been reservations about the bat. A career .272 hitting in the minor leagues, the 20 year old is hitting .368 this spring. Grapefruit League numbers mean nothing, however you have to be positive with what you see. With concerns about Luis Castillo’s health and ability to replicate 2009, Tejada could wind up replacing the veteran this year if necessary

Alex Cora clearly can’t play every day. The goal when signing him was to spell the starters one day a week. That won’t be realized till sometime in late April when everyone hopes Reyes returns to action. But what if Castillo is out? Do you want Alex Cora for another 300 AB’s this year? We all agree the answer is no. If Tejada can give you anywhere near his 2009 Binghamton line (5/46/.289) that will be sufficient. Even if Castillo is healthy it’s nice to know there is a prospect that could competently step in. This is a far cry from 2008 when the Mets had to plug second base with Argenis Reyes, Ramon Martinez, and defensively challenged Damion Easley.

Tejada has been a shortstop a majority of his minor league career, playing only 33 games at second base. I haven’t seen him there enough to tell how effective he will be. Everyone has raved about his speed and defense so I don’t know why he couldn’t do just fine. Remember, he isn’t replacing a top tier defensive player either.

We may see Tejada this year, but perhaps it may be for Luis Castillo instead of just as a short term replacement for Jose Reyes.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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3 Responses to Tejada’s Value: Castillo’s Replacement

  1. GravediggerHebner
    March 21st, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    I have no idea how realistic or relevant it is but I thought it would be fun anyway to plug Tejada’s 2009 AA Binghamton numbers into the “minor league equivalency calculator.” Here’s what it spit out as the “translation” of his Bingo numbers to MLB numbers:

    110 hits in 502 at bats for a .219 BA with 3 HR, 31 RBI and 15 SB.

    So I guess I’ll hope that the minor league equivalency calculator is not accurate.

  2. Mike Silva
    March 21st, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    GDH

    I see that, but not sure how seriously to take it. I have plugged others before for fun, but there just doesn’t seem to be value for someone who doesn’t hit homers. Plug in Austin Jackson and see what you get - do you think Detroit would trade Granderson for that player?

  3. Ceetar
    April 2nd, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    Well, I don’t think there is much doubt Castillo will replicate 2009, something that’s below his career average defensively but on par with it offensively (and 2008 shows that it may have been as much bad luck and bad managing as anything else).

    Also, while they haven’t set a time table on Reyes’ return, he’s also not officially on the DL, and no one seems to think it’ll be later than the first day he’s eligible. It’s not like he’s not 100% healthy.

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