Who Plays Shortstop for the Mets?

The Mets injury bug continues to handcuff this team as Jose Reyes will miss 2-8 weeks(which is a pretty random time frame) to try and harness his overactive thyroid. He has been prescribed nothing but rest and can't do any baseball activities until his thyroid levels are normal.

The Mets must now decide who is going to replace Reyes assuming he will not be ready for opening day. The obvious answer is Alex Cora who replaced Reyes last year when he was injured and did a noble job considering he was playing hurt. While Cora is a great clubhouse guy and does whatever he can to help the team win, he is not a guy who can play everyday and is much better when he is spot starting. He has no power at all and no longer possess the range to play SS consistently, he is much more suited for a bench player.

Which brings us to who I think should be the guy on opening day, 20-year old Ruben Tejada. Granted he is young and has never played an inning at AAA, but he was labeled the Mets best defensive infielder last year. He also gained some higher level experience playing in the World Baseball Classic for Team Panama. He also had a good year in AA last year hitting .289 avg, .351 obp, .381 slg. while stealing 19 stolen bases and hitting five homeruns.

The Mets also still have Anderson Hernandez on the 40-man roster, who can play shortstop. I like Anderson as a bench player but he does not have enough range to play SS everyday and does have any upside on offense. They also have Luis Hernandez in camp who offers nothing offensively but has a good arm and good range at SS, where he played 23 games for the Royals last year.

Maybe the most intriguing in-house option(non-prospect) Russ Adams who has already shown this Spring that he can hit going 6-10 with a HR and a triple while playing some SS and 2B. He was the Blue Jays starting SS in 2005 and hit .256 avg with 8 HR's and 63 RBI's but after the season the Jays decided they didn't like his range at SS and made him a utility guy. He has logged innings at 2B, 3B, LF, and RF. While he doesn't have alot of range at short, I don't think he has less range then Cora. He is basically Cora defensively at SS but with some pop so hopefully the Mets give him a long look this spring.

I think if the Ruben Tejada hits ok this spring and continues to show good defense the Mets will go with him. Which isn't a bad thing because this team needs to start relying on there good young players to contribute to the big league club. Now if Tejada looks like he can't handle Major League hitting at all the Mets should give Russ Adams a chance who has experience at the Major League level at SS. Cora needs to stay on the bench as the back-up utility guy who can play SS and 2B, because you never now when Castillo's knees might start hurting. Omar Minaya also said in his Jose Reyes press call that Ruben Tejada could start the season as the Mets shortstop.