Anthony DiComo, beat writer for the Mets on MLB.com recently took a look at work the team needs to do with its roster before heading into Spring Training in February.
One of the two positions that remains the most clouded in what will happen to them in the coming month happens to be the shortstop position (The other position, if you are wondering, is first base).
The question seems to have come down to whether or not the Mets will find a way to sign Stephen Drew, formally of the Red Sox, or just give Ruben Tejada another chance to play everyday.
DiComo when breaking down the Shortstop position gives you the basic idea that it going to be Drew or Tejada and really no other options for the Mets.
Alderson said last month that he does not envision the Mets acquiring a shortstop through free agency, a not-so-subtle way to shift Stephen Drew off the public’s radar. Since then, agent Scott Boras has reportedly kept communication lines open, though that only means so much. Boras may be asking the Mets to stretch beyond their comfort zone for Drew, or he could simply be trying to drive up the price for the Red Sox.
If Drew falls into the Mets’ lap at an acceptable price, then that solves that. If not, Alderson will continue to seek out trade partners knowing that the price for young, controllable shortstops is high. The most likely scenario involves Ruben Tejada reprising his role as the starting shortstop, receiving a second chance to prove his worth as an everyday player.
Most sports betting sites like SportsBettingOnline.ag have odds for the New York Mets and I have a feeling that if “Drew falls into the Mets’ lap at an acceptable price” as DiComo puts it, the odds of the Mets winning get much better.
Drew is a solid glove and a decent bat that could in theory make the Mets lineup a little deeper than it would be with Tejada. Ruben had a solid 2012 season before regressing in 2013 to the point where he lost a lot of leeway from the front office that he could be the shortstop for years to come.
It is a little strange to say that a player not even 25 years old has no chance of putting things back together and improving. Baseball is an unforgiving sport and Tejada learned that the hard way it seems last year.
If anything, the fact that the shortstop market has basically been nothing that the Mets expected going into the off-season has worked out in Tejada’s favor.
If Drew were to only sign a one or two year deal, the expectation is that he would just go back to the Red Sox, the defending champs, and not the Mets, the defending 3rd place team in the NL East.
As of today, Tejada looks like he will be the opening day starter at SS because nothing else broke the Mets way when it came to replacing him. After a year to forget for Ruben, maybe his luck has begun to change a little bit.
Lets hope that if Stephen Drew doesn’t end of with the Mets, Tejada takes advantage of his good fortune that the SS market was so poor, and becomes a better player in 2014 and beyond.
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