Mets reportedly considering sending Ruben Tejada to the minors

Perhaps Ruben Tejada's struggles haven't been widely discussed this year because they've been overshadowed by the Mets' other problems, the most notable of which has been Ike Davis. Tejada is hitting just .209/.269/.264 this year—the worst slash line among qualified shortstops in all of baseball—and hasn't been nearly as sharp on defense as he was in years past.

This morning, New York Daily News reporter Andy Martino shined a bit of the spotlight on Tejada, because the "demote Davis" horse has been beaten all the way to China by now.

Why not send Tejada -- who everyone believes is a good guy, and capable of more than he has shown -- down there already, and plug his spot with the capable Quintanilla?

"Obviously, that has been discussed," said one high-ranking Mets source, who provided this reasoning for the inaction: Quintanilla is not on the 40-man roster (although that is far from insurmountable). Also, the Mets could lose him if they tried to send him back down, and do not want to risk that so early in the season.

Omar Quintanilla is hitting a sizzling .328/.415/.480 at Las Vegas, but like Martino says, he's not on the 40-man roster. He's also proven time and time again that he's not a long-term solution at shortstop. Even if Las Vegas wasn't the hitter's park that it is, could the Mets really expect Quintanilla to provide plus offense in the majors?

Any move regarding Tejada should be about Tejada alone, and not about how much a replacement-level shortstop is going to help the Mets win. This is why the Mets need to get out of Las Vegas as soon as possible.