St. Louis Cardinals: Time to Rid of Ruben Tejada

Am I the only one who is tired of the St. Louis Cardinals’ lost cause that is Tejada?  What purpose is he serving on this team?  I believe the time has come to eat the $1.5M and rid ourselves of this roster spot.

Initially, I was and wasn’t a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals signing Ruben Tejada and I am not alone in this thinking.  I must admit that every time I see Tejada in the lineup or walking to the plate, I find myself asking: why?  Why is this player still with the team?

Let’s look at his miserable numbers… Through twenty-three at-bats, Tejada has managed only four hits and two RBI for a pitiful slash line of .174/.192/.453.  REALLY?  This is a major league player?

Defensively, Tejada has appeared in four games at third base and seven games at shortstop.  When appearing at third, Tejada owns a .875 fielding percentage.  When appearing at shortstop, he owns a .882 fielding percentage.  Again… am I the only one questioning his place on the team?

Let’s look at potential replacements for his spot.  My first suggestion is the one who was sent down erroneously earlier: Greg Garcia.  Garcia, in my humble opinion, should be playing in St. Louis and Tejada- should the team decide to keep him in the ranks (since he is being paid $1.5M)- should be in Memphis.

Here are Garcia’s present numbers for comparison: in nineteen games with Memphis (62 at-bats), Greg holds a slash line of .226/.351/.258.  While not stellar or impressive, these numbers definitely out-pace Tejada.

Defensively, Garcia has appeared at shortstop in fifteen games, second base in one game, and third base in one game.  When at these positions, Garcia holds a fielding percentage of .950 at shortstop, 1.000 at second, and 1.000 at third base.  These are certainly outpacing Tejada.

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While not a fair comparison at all, let’s look at Aledmys Diaz who should have prevented the Cardinals from diving into this bad deal from the beginning.  Diaz, through ninety-nine at-bats, owns a slash line of .394/.429/1.115.

Defensively, Diaz owns a fielding percentage of .932 at shortstop (28 games) and 1.000 at second base (1 game).  While Diaz is known this season for his errors (six at shortstop), Tejada owns three errors himself (two at shortstop, one at second base).

So who should stay and who should go?  From the numbers alone, Tejada has no right of riding the pine in St. Louis.  In his place, the likes of Greg Garcia would be a better option as well as a cheaper option.  Tejada and Garcia are both signed through the 2016 campaign but Tejada costs $1.5M and Garcia costs $508,000.

Next: MLB Draft Preview Part 1

As the return of Jhonny Peralta nears, and as Alexander Reyes‘ suspension return is nearing, maybe there is no better time than now to shed the dead weight of Tejada.  I boldly predict that this will happen sooner rather than later.