Mets, Ruben Tejada Agree At $1.1M To Avoid Arbitration
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Ruben Tejada and the New York Mets have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.1 million, one-year contract.
Tejada lost his job as the team's starting shortstop last year, when he was demoted to the minors for months during an injury-plagued season. He missed time with a strained right quadriceps and broke his right leg on Sept. 18, eight days after he was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.
Tejada batted .202 with no homers, 10 RBIs and a dreadful .519 OPS in 57 games. But assuming he's healthy by the start of the season, he's in line to start at shortstop again because the Mets have been unable to find a suitable upgrade this winter.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said in early September that working with Tejada was "like pulling teeth."
"It's extra batting practice, extra this, extra that — it doesn't happen, necessarily, unless someone else is insisting on it," Alderson said on WFAN radio. "We need to see a commitment to improvement. He's going to have to earn it."
The deal Wednesday night leaves New York with six players in arbitration: first basemen Ike Davis and Lucas Duda, pitcher Dillon Gee, second baseman Daniel Murphy, reliever Bobby Parnell and outfielder Eric Young Jr.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
