Who In The World Is Juan Tejada?

A closer look at the four minor league contracts the Mets handed out the other day.

Juan Tejada is the most interesting guy, but still looks like an American League DH.

Q: Paul from Ann Arbor, MI asks:
Why the omission of Juan Tejeda? He had a breakout year at Erie, including slugging well over .500, and all at the age of just 22.

A: Pat Caputo:
He will be in the top 15. His power potential is limited and he is unathletic. 90 percent of the position players in the major leagues are just better athletes than he is. But he can hit...and if you can hit, you can play.

That year was also 2004 and he ended repeating a league that he did very will in last year as well. Carlos Pena took the bulk of the first base duties at AAA so that was presumably the reason he was slated to repeat the league, but he had a pretty solid year, though not as good as the previous year. He had twenty-two less extra base hits, ten less less RBIs, and ten less walks. Either way, you have a guy who has been a pretty consistent hitter and will still be 24 at AAA which is not horrible considering he should have been there at 23.

First baseman Juan Tejeda continues to be one of the organization's most consistent hitters. Tejeda was hitting .277-15-60 this year, and he was leading Tigers minor leaguers in RBIs. "Every year, he just hits .280-.300 and produces," Bennett said. "He's on pace to do it again. We call him our RBI machine."

Being that he is a first baseman and not a very good one according to BA, he looks like he can be a nice platoon option if Carlos Delgado sits against some lefties or to just spell him all together and provide a power bat off of the bench. Of course it is tough to see where he might fit in with Julio Franco here for the next two years, but he is an intriguing player nonetheless.

Julio Ramirez was the seventh ranked prospect in the Eastern League according to Baseball America in 1999 at twenty-one years old. He hit .261 with 39 walks, 13 homers, 64 stolen bases, 30 doubles, and 64 RBIs. Six years later he has put up a .167/.216/.229 line with one homer and eleven RBIs in 96 at-bats in the Majors and bunch of bad to mediocre Minor League seasons.

He has bounced around from the minors and majors with very little major league action since 1999 and had not shown much pop until last year in the hitter friendly PCL. He'll be 28 this year and will presumably get a chance to earn a role in Norfolk with a possibility of getting called up should an outfielder go down, but he seems like someone who might not even stick through Spring Training either. Of course he is older, so he can probably put Victor Diaz off the team with a strong spring and give some more veteran presence to the bench since he has played in the majors since 1999.

Sandy Martinez looks like a AAAA player that will be turning 33 next year with only 564 Major League at-bats under his belt. One would assume he will fill a role at AAA and fight with Joe Hieptas for the first to be called up should LoDuca or Castro go down. Martinez will most likely just be filling and organizational role if he makes it though Spring Training at all. I guess it really depends on how good of defense he plays and I have no idea if he does.

Matt Perisho had lefties hit him to the tune of .346/.500/615 in 26 at-bats and walked nine batters while allowing nine hits in 2005 between Boston and Florida. In 2004 with the Marlins, he held lefties to a .207/.317/.379 line and walked thirteen while allowing eighteen hits. He walks too many batters but has a chance to compete with Royce Ring, Pedro Feliciano, Steve Coyler, and Darren Oliver as the LOOGY out of the bullpen.

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If you are not reading The Best Page in the Universe, you should be.

If you have a weak stomach, do not click here. Gun to my head though, it is Toni Batista.

Gotham Baseball has some news on the Mets and Jeff Kent.

A baseball official with knowledge of the situation told GB that the discussions "were serious" and that "it could happen soon."

He refused to disclose the players the Mets would send back in the deal, but did indicate that minor leaguer Anderson Hernandez could be a "key component" in any trade.

If Anderson Hernandez is a "key component" and the biggest chip, this would undoubtedly be a coup for the Mets.

The Yankees 'seem' close to a deal with Octavio Dotel.

The Yankees appeared close to an agreement with reliever Octavio Dotel before talks cooled last night. But they still seem to hold a slight edge over the Mets, Indians, Rangers and Red Sox, with a deal expected as early as this afternoon, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Octavio is worth the risk of an incentive laden deal especially when you look at the Mets failing to ink one effective middle reliever. This needs to happen even if they get Tavarez.

Willie serves some food and speaks out.

"You know what I'd love more than anything? For someone in our organization to step up and take a job next spring, whether that's in the middle relief or as a backup or whatever," Randolph said yesterday, after serving meals to recovering addicts at The Bowery Mission on the Lower East Side. "When you build within, you get the incentive for all the other young players to aspire and do well.

"It's always good to trade or go for a free agent. But I prefer to build within and let these kids see that if you work hard in this system, then you're going to be rewarded for it. I'm hoping someone will step up."

Let's see who might be able to step up....(crickets chirping...)..Willie, there is nothing left that is close to helping. Lastings is the closest impact player and he is at the minimum a half a year away and most likely longer. Kepp or A Hern might be able to play, but no one expects them to do more than tread water at this point. Bannister might get a shot in the pen along with Moreno, Fortunato, and Soler but people are not really penciling them in as factors and Soler is still an unknown despite success this winter in fourteen or so innings. I appreciate the optimism though. In order to step up, you need players.

Umm...

7. Hey, here's how to solve all of the mets problems in one fail swoop. give me a $50 million contract to bang chris bensons wife... hell, i'll do it for free

I think he was talking about taking a hit out on Anna and not actually banging her, but I'm not sure.

Dan Shaughnessy has the quote of the day...

Let's not forget that Manny allegedly asked to be dealt to a West Coast team, and even Manny knows that Baltimore is not on the Pacific Ocean.