Justin Turner Rips Mets, New York Media Over Handling Of Tejada
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- David Wright and Carlos Beltran aren't the only ballplayers who have been irked by the anonymous snipes of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada.
Ex-Met Justin Turner is bothered by them, too.
"I think the issue is that nobody takes responsibility for what they say," Turner told Capital New York's Howard Megdal. "You've seen that with Tejada over the last few weeks. It's all 'a source said that they're not happy with him.' It's like, you know what? If you're gonna come out and gonna attack a guy's character, and his work ethic, be man enough to put your name on it.
"Don't say, 'This is off the record', and then off the record means they're gonna write it anyway."
Turner was surprisingly non-tendered by New York in early December after four seasons with the Amazin's. The 29-year-old infielder signed with the Dodgers in February.
"So far (in Los Angeles), I've only done stories about baseball stuff," Turner told Megdal. "In New York, it doesn't matter what it is, everything's a story, and they want to know everything about it. It turns into a big ordeal. Stuff that doesn't even matter."
Tejada is penciled in as the Mets' starting shortstop with Opening Day right around the corner. But after batting .202 with no homers, 10 RBIs and a .259 on-base percentage -- and eight errors in the field -- in 57 games in 2013, the 24-year-old has struggled mightily this spring while attempting to prove himself.
He's 2-for-22 this spring with an .130 on-base percentage, and his defense has continued to he shoddy. He's committed four errors in just eight games.
"I've been there for three years," Turner told Megdal. "All I can do is say if I was running an organization, in charge of it, I would look at all my players as assets, and want to build them up. So even if I didn't want them to be on my team, they would have value. But for some reason, I don't know, that's not the thought process over there. Like I said, I'm happy where I am now."
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