St. Louis Cardinals: Is Ruben Tejada worth a look?

The St. Louis Cardinals are looking for shortstop help. Should they bring in outside help?

Are the St. Louis Cardinals still looking for shortstop help? Enter Ruben Tejada. The New York Mets released the shortstop this week and he went unclaimed on waivers. This takes away the 3 million dollar tag that was there a day ago. Is he a worthy choice to bring and soak up some innings?

Jedd Gyorko was brought in primarily to back up Kolten Wong at second and perhaps Matt Carpenter third. When Jhonny Peralta went down, he was my guy that I presumed the Cards would throw at short to see if he stuck.

He hasn’t hit well this spring and his defense at short isn’t great. Aledmys Diaz has gotten a healthy amount of playing time and has hit well and put on a fine show for the coaches. Do the Cards trust him to take the bulk of the starts or share him with Gyorko for the first 6-8 weeks?

Peralta can’t do anything for six weeks. He will need time when he can pick up a bat and glove again. He will need a spring training stretch before he can rejoin the team. The Cards shouldn’t expect him back until mid June. That’s 50+ games to think about.

Diaz, Gyorko and Greg Garcia have less than 50 games combined at shortstop at the MLB level. That could be a problem that John Mozeliak doesn’t want to walk into the season with.

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What about Tejada? Let’s get over the bad. Tejada hasn’t posted an OPS+ of 100 in his career. He doesn’t have power and doesn’t steal bases. He has cranked 23 doubles and only has one career triple. He’s never played 120 games in a season. His lifetime batting average is .255 and his OBP is .330. Those aren’t terrible and he may fare better in St. Louis. Maybe,

His defense was bad last year. In 81 games at shortstop in 2015, Tejada’s defensive runs saved above average was -15(via Baseball Reference). He made five errors in 272 chances. He isn’t great defensively but has shown moments in his career to be decent. Via Fangraphs, Tejada’s range and arm are slightly before average and his overall career Ultimate Zone Rating is -1.5. He isn’t great defensively.

The Mets had problems with him last year in his conduct on and off the field. He wasn’t staying in shape and was a little careless towards the end. When I look at Tejada, I don’t see much to get excited about. Sure, he may make contact and get on base at a decent clip but his defense isn’t noteworthy.

The million question. Is Tejada better than Aledmys Diaz? I am talking 2016. The Cards could run with Diaz and see where it takes them and what the kid has in store. Diaz has many years of control but could be a breakout player. After surviving waivers himself last July, he smoked the baseball from late July through the end of August and continued in the AFL. Wouldn’t Tejada be blocking Diaz when there is a chance to see what Diaz has?

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In the end, I don’t think the team needs to bring in Tejada. He may be cheap but I don’t think he will give you much more than Diaz/Gyorko can at the position. Unless the Cards faith in Diaz wavers(which it hasn’t), I think Tejada would block him. At league minimum, a deal is likely and Mo will explore it. I just don’t think it’s required.

Stick with Diaz. He seems to be earning more starts and looks. Gaining confidence along the way. Mix in Gyorko and Garcia if needed. Ruben Tejada doesn’t improve this Cards team, even at league minimum.

Will Mozeliak think otherwise? We shall see.