NO.
Tejada is a 36 year old former shortstop whose best years are behind him. In his peak, from 2000-2007, he posted an 844 OPS, hit 224 home runs, and won an MVP award. In the last two years, however, he has hit a poor .298/.327/.435.
The author of the article opines:
In no way am I calling for Murphy's job, but I just don't see where he fits in with the Mets plans. They now have a left fielder for the next 4 years, Murphy proved he cannot play second base in Arizona last fall and with Ike Davis on the horizon and Wright at third, there is literally nowhere for him to play. So, maybe it's best to get what you can for him now before it's too late and bring in another bat like Tejada to take his place.
This is a bad idea for several reasons.
1. Murphy is likely to be better than Tejada next year anyway -- Tejada's .298/.327/.435 line is actually WORSE than Murphy's line of .275/.331/.437.
2. Murphy's value is as low now as it could possibly be. It would be the worst time to trade him. I'm not a huge Murphy fan, but he deserves a chance to establish himself.
3. I don't believe that Ike Davis is such a "sure thing" that we can make plans around keeping first base open for him.
4. Even if Tejada was better, he will be vastly more expensive than Murphy, who will make almost the minimum salary.
So hopefully this idea doesn't gain any momentum.
