The Future At SS

We are into the first week of September and Ruben Tejada is still partying on the strip in Las Vegas. Or maybe Vegas isn't his thing. Either way, he's not trying to regain a foothold on the major league level and instead is partaking in the Pacific League playoffs with he 51's. In a recent article for the Star-Ledger, Jorge Castillo reported that Sandy Alderson isn't too impressed with Tejada's work ethic. One would hope the General Manager is in the know when it comes to the habits of his players, but it's hard to judge as fans. I want to believe Tejada really is working hard and dedicated to being a future piece for the Mets, but this is disconcerting.

Photo by Michael Baron

We cannot reasonable expect that Omar Quintanilla will be a long term option at shortstop. While we debate how we are going to strengthen the outfield in 2014, one could argue that the shortstop position may be the largest gap the Mets need to fill moving forward. The problem heading into the offseason is that the focus may be on acquiring an outfield bat. This may leave shortstop as an open competition between Ruben Tejada and fill-in-the blank journeymen middle fielder comparable to the incumbent, Quintanilla.