The Orioles acquired infielder Ruben Tejada from the Yankees for cash considerations, as per announcements from both teams. Tejada will be assigned to Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk.
Tejada signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the winter and entered today’s play hitting a solid .269/.345/.462 in 148 PA at the Triple-A level. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets, Tejada became an expendable infield piece with the recent promotion of top prospect Gleyber Torres, not to mention Tyler Wade, Donovan Solano, and the likelihood that Rob Refsnyder will soon be optioned back to the minors. The Orioles’ Norfolk depth chart also features some familiar MLB names (Chris Johnson, Johnny Giavotella, Luis Sardinas) so it is possible a further move could be forthcoming to create space, or the O’s simply want to add even more veteran depth on the farm.
Tejada was a regular in the Mets’ infield from 2010-15 before being released by the team in March 2016. The 27-year-old caught on with the Cardinals but then immediately suffered a hamstring injury, leading to a lost season that saw Tejada bounce from St. Louis to San Francisco and only manage a .489 OPS over 78 plate appearances. Never much known for his hitting (Tejada has a .252/.327/.320 career slash line in 2263 PA), Tejada will now give the O’s some versatile depth at shortstop, third and second base.
This guy still plays? And requires something in return? What a country
it’s probably about $1
Hasn’t hit over .200 in majors in 3 years.
He hit .260 for the Mets in 2015.
Recked
I’m surprised that he’s still only 27. It feels like he’s been around forever; I’d have thought that he’d be around 33-34.
The other tejada
Covering for the Robert Andino suspension at AAA, I see.
Ruben Tejada seems to be a really nice depth option, not quite good enough to play in the majors but good enough to be in an organization
Never been the same after the Utley slide
He was always a light hitter, a single here a single there nothing really that great. An AAAA player, but always seemed like he had a good attitude.
He actually had a rep for not having a great attitude. Reyes during his first Mets stint tried to push him to be a better player and pro but he wasn’t into it.
Other than organizational depth, I’m not sure I get this move. O’s seem to be stockpiling infielders that are not quite major league players.
Orioles going for the all former mlb team down in Norfolk huh?
id rather have flaherty
Flaherty is injured and at the major league level not AAA when healthy. This is an Andino replacement while he is suspended.
Time for Hardy to go? Hardy’s been atrocious both offensively and defensively. Maybe he’ll be at least a defensive upgrade…
Yeah, I was surprised at how quickly Hardy has fallen off.
Hardy’s performance has eroded since the day the O’s signed him to that extension during the 2014 post season. I’m not saying the extension caused his decline, but his statistical decline began at that time.