By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | June 1, 2016, 7:16 pm CT
By Paul Hadsall / CC Image / No changes made
Updated at 7:28 pm with additional information:
Roughly 2 1/2 months after signing the former Met with the intention of giving him somewhat regular at-bats at shortstop, the Cardinals have released infielder Ruben Tejada, according to the transactions page on the team’s website.
Tejada, 26, was designated for assignment on Saturday to accommodate Matt Carpenter’s return from the paternity list, and after passing through waivers unclaimed, has become a free agent.
The Cardinals will still be responsible for the remainder of the $1.5 million guaranteed to Tejada from the deal he signed back in March.
[Related – Mozeliak: Diaz to remain Cardinals’ primary shortstop when Peralta returns]
After being released by the Mets near the end of spring training, Tejada latched on with the redbirds following Jhonny Peralta’s thumb injury, and appeared to be in line for significant at-bats at shortstop before the emergence of rookie Aledmys Diaz, who took the reigns at the position following a quad injury to Tejada himself on the last game of Grapefruit League play.
By the time Tejada was activated on April 18, Diaz was surging with the bat, and the veteran of seven big league seasons found himself on the bench most days in the last month.
[More from STLBBT – Report: Cardinals ‘unlikely’ to receive hacking punishment before June draft]
With Greg Garcia’s impressive performance in limited playing time and the upcoming return of Peralta, Tejada was the odd man out with Carpenter’s return to the 25-man roster.
Tejada hit just .176/.225/.235 with 3 RBI in 34 at-bats this season while wearing the birds on the bat.
