Cardinals sign shortstop Tejada to 1-year deal for $1.5M

The St. Louis Cardinals tried to fill their big hole at shortstop, signing Ruben Tejada on Saturday shortly after he was cut by the New York Mets.

The NL Central champion Cardinals needed help after star shortstop Jhonny Peralta had surgery on his left thumb earlier this month. Injured while diving for a ball, Peralta was expected to miss two to three months.

Veteran second baseman Jedd Gyorko and youngster Aledmys Diaz had been playing at shortstop this spring after Peralta had the thumb surgery.

Tejada was released by the Mets on Wednesday. The 26-year-old free agent said there were talks with four or five teams before he joined the Cardinals with a one-year, $1.5 million guaranteed contract.

Tejada would have been due $3 million this year but the Mets, who have several shortstops, had to pay him only 30 days’ worth by waiving him.

“They always are searching for a championship, for winning, and that’s something that you look as a player to have the opportunity to be in the club that is concentrating on winning, getting the opportunity to play in the playoffs,” Tejada said.

“I heard a lot about the club and the clubhouse, so that’s something that I took into consideration when I made my decision,” he said.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, who had preferred not to give up a player in a trade to get Tejada, said, “Most of you (media) anticipated we would go down this path. Having somebody like Ruben Tejada made sense from a depth standpoint. We don’t exactly know what opening day or the opening month will look like yet but, obviously, we feel better about where we are from a defensive standpoint today than we were yesterday.”

Tejada went through a workout with his new team after signing.

“I’m just here to play and just do whatever they told me to do. Whatever they need me to do.” he said.

“Defense is something that I feel is one of my stronger suits. But I also, the last couple of years, I put a lot of effort into my offense and I had good years, so I feel like that’s something that is evolving and I’m getting better at it,” he said.

For his four-plus seasons, Tejada is a .255 lifetime hitter with 16 homers in 1,929 at-bats.

Tejada hit .261 with 23 doubles, three homers and 28 RBIs with the Mets last year. His season ended in the NL Division Series when his right leg was broken by a takeout slide from Chase Utley at Dodger Stadium.

“Clearly, (Tejada) is an experienced shortstop who played on a championship team last year,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, that’s our goal, so I think he'll fit in nicely for us.”

Tejada missed the World Series, went through rehabilitation and played for the Mets in spring training.

“After five or six weeks I was able to feel completely healthy,” he said.

Tejada was hitting .278 in 18 spring training at-bats with a homer, triple and double. In his career, he has appeared defensively in 431 games at shortstop, 118 games at second base and 19 games at third base.

Tejada signed with the Mets in 2006 and spent parts of six big league seasons in New York. But after the Mets offered him a contract on Dec. 2, they signed free-agent shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and acquired second baseman Neil Walker from Pittsburgh.

With Wilmer Flores also on the roster, Tejada’s future with the team became uncertain and he was cut.

Tejada said he was “a little” surprised by the way his situation with the Mets situation played out.

“I know there are some things I can’t control. I only control what happens on the field,” he said.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Cardinals sign shortstop Tejada to 1-year deal for $1.5M."