Fantasy talk: Ruben Tejada status report

As a Mets fan, there are several players on the team that annoy me, but Tejada is not one of them. He is actually one of my favorite players on the club, and is a rising star in the game. His fantasy value is skyrocketing with each and every year that passes, and it will be exciting to see what he can do in a full season.

The Mets signed Tejada back in 2006 as an international free agent. He started pro ball in 2007, and hit extremely well in the minor leagues. Despite his solid performance, the Mets chose to slowly ease him to the big leagues, considering that he was only around 19 or so and had time to develop. In 2010, he started the year in Triple-A, and hit .280 over the course of 65 games. With a gap at second base, the Mets called up the young, 20 year old Tejada, in order to see what they have in him. He hit .213 in 78 games, but provided solid defense, and looked like he would develop into a solid player. In 2011, he started the season in Triple-A, and several injuries at the MLB level caused him to be called up again. This time, he fully took advantage of the opportunity. He finished the year hitting .284 with 36 RBI in 96 games. He split time between second base and shortstop, and many Mets fans very pleased with his progress. Once Jose Reyes left via free agency, mostly everyone knew that Tejada would be his successor at shortstop.

Coming into 2012, Tejada was a sleeper pick for many owners because he was relatively unknown and was going to get a lot of playing time. In the beginning of the season, he got off to a fast start but suffered an injury while tripping over first base. It was a freak injury, and he lost a lot of playing time because of it. Once he came back, he looked like he didn't miss a beat, continuing his solid performance. Right now he has hit .309 with 101 hits in 353 plate appearances. He has one stolen base, and 21 doubles. He also has a .352 on-base percentage, which is impressive.

Tejada continues to get better and better with each passing season, and I can only imagine what his stats will look like at this time next year. This kid is going to be an All-Star someday, and may develop into a better player than Reyes. Keep in mind that he is only 22 years old, and is still 5+ years away from entering his prime. If he can manage to swipe some more bags and continue to play his Gold Glove defense, he could turn himself into one of the best shortstops in the league. The potential is there, its only a matter of time when he'll be noticed by others. If you own him, stick with him. Don't get rid of him because like I keep saying, he will continue to get better. If you don't own him, make it your priority to pick him in next year's draft, preferably as a backup shortstop, due to the fact that practically nobody knows who he is.