Why Keep Ruben Tejada On The Roster?

The latest reports on Jose Reyes say he has looked good in his rehab games and will most likely return after just the first five games of the season.  To take his place on the 25-man roster the Mets had to choose between the two options of veteran utility infielder Russ Adams and Ruben Tejada, a 20-year-old middle infield prospect.  Yesterday the Mets made six cuts, including Adams, securing Tejada's place on the opening day roster.

The thing that makes no sense is that by including Tejada on the opening day roster the Mets will be starting his free agent clock for presumably just five games of service.  People in favor of the move are arguing "Well he doesn't project to be a star anyway so that extra year of service really is not a big deal."  Sure he will never be a perennial all-star, but players like Tejada still do carry value (see Placido Polanco and the contract he just signed).  That is no excuse to just throw away one year of control.

It is just such a short amount of time to waste a year of service for.  I do not care if this was Mike Piazza making the team or Roger Cedeno, it makes no sense to start his clock for just five games.  I know I sound repetitive, but I just can't comprehend the fact that the Mets think five games in the beginning of April are worth a full season of a player's rights.  As much as baseball is all about winning games and putting the best team possible on the field it is still a business and this is just not a smart business move.

We are talking about a kid who has a legitimate shot to be the Mets starting 2nd baseman as early as next season so why not just wait the extra year so you can control his rights for that one extra season before he hits the open market?  Are the Mets really that desperate to make such a move?  Lately in interviews Omar Minaya has talked a lot about getting off to a good start and about how if April is a good month fans will rally behind the team and forgot about the terrible 2009 season.  So I guess the answer is they are that desperate and last season is still coming back to bite us in the butt.

If this move was for a more substantial amount of time I would have no problem with it, but seeing how short a period of time it is I am strongly against it.  What would be the big deal if Russ Adams just sat on the bench for a week while Alex Cora started at short?  Sure Russ Adams is terrible, but I am not expecting him to get more than 1 or 2 at-bat's during those five games anyway.  I am going to cap this off by saying that if Tejada does not start at least 3 of the 5 games than this move was a complete and utter flop.