Aug 12 2013 09:31 PM
Re: Doo Doo Doo Doo Dah (Heartbreaker)
The Mets’ Lost Minor-Leaguers
Tejada and Duda Were Once a Big Part of the Mets' Plans; Now They're Toiling Away in Las Vegas
By Jared Diamond
| LAS VEGAS—On most afternoons, in the quiet time between batting practice and first pitch, the television in the musty old clubhouse at Cashman Field remains tuned to the Mets. The players here consider it a rare benefit of having a Triple-A affiliate 2,500 miles away: The three-hour time difference allows them to observe the team they aspire to join someday. Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada pay attention in a different, more personal way. More than anybody else in this room, they believe they deserve a job in New York. They spent much of the past four years there, ingraining themselves, they thought, as linchpins of the organization’s future. And yet here they are, toiling away in anonymity, like a pair of forgotten soldiers lost in the Nevada desert. Their place on the Mets feels increasingly distant, as the TV taunts them with this horrifying reality: We’re better off without you. Right now, that’s true. After a miserable start to the season, the Mets have gone 33-32 (.508) since Tejada injured his quadriceps in May (entering Monday). They’ve gone 25-20 (.556) since Duda strained his intercostal muscle a month later. The Mets don’t view this as a coincidence. If they did, Duda and Tejada would probably be back in the majors by now. Neither player is hurt anymore. Their rehab assignments are over. Instead, they are bona fide minor-leaguers, suddenly fighting for their baseball lives. “Guys get hurt sometimes,” Las Vegas manager Wally Backman said, “and they never get their spot back.” In separate interviews last weekend, Duda and Tejada both said it came as a surprise that the Mets optioned them to Las Vegas after reinstating them from the disabled list. What’s worse, there is no evidence to indicate that the Mets plan to bring them back soon, at least in a meaningful role. Manager Terry Collins recently referred to Tejada as “the other guy,” while praising the current starting shortstop, Omar Quintanilla. With Duda, he said simply that “right now, there’s not a spot for him.” Though the Mets will likely promote both players when rosters expand in September, they probably won’t give them back their starting jobs. In Duda’s case, this leaves him at a career crossroads. It could even signal the end of his tenure with the Mets. Duda is a first baseman. He isn’t an outfielder. The Mets experimented with him in the outfield for the past several seasons. The experiment failed miserably. A large portion of the Mets’ recent resurgence stems from their vastly improved outfield defense, particularly Eric Young, Duda’s replacement, in left. “You know what you’re going to get with me out there,” Duda said. “I’m a better first baseman. It’s clear to see. Anybody can see it.” One problem: The Mets already have a first baseman. It isn’t Duda. By bringing Ike Davis back from the minors and leaving Duda in Vegas, they signaled that, at least for now, they see Davis as the better long-term option at the position. Considering that Davis entered Monday with a .482 on-base percentage since returning from Triple-A, it is hard to blame them. It makes sense that the Mets tried Duda in the outfield. They hoped his offensive potential would overshadow his terrible defense, and Davis and Duda could play together. The issue is Duda never hit as well as they hoped—perhaps because of the position switch. Knowing that he needed to produce monstrous offensive numbers to compensate for the runs he would allow in the outfield, Duda admitted “I did feel a little bit of added pressure because of my lack of defensive capability.” “They’ve got to make a decision about what they’re going to do,” Backman said. “If you can’t have both of them playing at the same time, somebody’s gotta go. That’s just the way baseball is.” So where does that leave Duda? Despite his slow start since arriving in Vegas, there is little doubt Duda provides value offensively. Among Mets players with at least 100 at-bats (entering Monday), his .353 OBP this season still ranks second on the team. His 11 home runs rank fourth. Will the Mets try him again in the outfield? Will they give him another chance to play first? Will they attempt to trade him to an American League team where he can be a designated hitter? The answers could determine Duda’s future. “I like DHing,” Duda said. “That’s a position, too.” Tejada, still just 23, finds himself in a different—and more mysterious—situation. When he got hurt, he was hitting .209, and his defense at shortstop appeared to have regressed. He looked nothing like the player who hit .289 a year ago. His performance hasn’t improved much in Triple-A, where he entered Monday with a disappointing .313 OBP. He is hitting too many fly balls for a player who doesn’t hit many homers. At this point, the Mets don’t know what to make of Tejada. Collins has said he arrived at spring training out of shape, which likely contributed to his slow start. Though Backman said Tejada is in good shape now, he probably wasn’t ready for game action when the season started in April. “At the end of the year when he gets back, there’s going to be a conversation of what he needs to do this winter to make sure next spring he’s ready to go,” Collins said. “You got to look down the road and say Ruben Tejada’s got to get it going because he’s 23 years old for heavens sakes.” Something needs to change. Franchise shortstops don’t come around often, and the Mets thought they had one in Tejada. They still think he can recover and emerge as a reliable performer. Tejada does, too. And clearly, he still sees himself as a major leaguer. When asked about the whereabouts of “Perry,” a pillow shaped like a cartoon platypus that he used to keep in his locker, he responded, “home.” He was referring not to his native Panama—but to New York. “Everything happened pretty quick,” Tejada said. “I have to work a lot and come back ready to make the team.” Tejada and Duda both just want a chance. At this point, a chance is something they will have to earn. |
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