By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | May 28, 2016, 11:24 am CT
By Paul Hadsall / CC Image / No changes made
Ruben Tejada’s time wearing the birds on the bat appears to have come to an end.
Just over two months after he signed with St. Louis with the prospect of regular playing time at shortstop, the 26-year-old infielder was designated for assignment on Saturday to accommodate Matt Carpenter’s return from the paternity list, the club announced.
After being released by the Mets in mid-March, 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 spring training.
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.
Now, with Greg Garcia’s stellar performance in limited playing time (8-13, including a home run on Friday) and the upcoming return of Peralta, Tejada was the odd man out with Carpenter’s return to the 25-man roster.
Playing on a guaranteed $1.5 million deal he signed with St. Louis back on March 19, Tejada was hitting just .176/.225/.235 with 3 RBI in 34 at-bats this season.
Tejada has the right to reject an outright assignment to AAA Memphis, and would become a free agent if that occurs.
