Ruben Tejada

Mack -     In the past, Terry Collins ran into trouble with his ballplayers when he talked about them to the media rather than talk to them. What's your spin on how he's handling the Ruben Tejada situation now?


Michael Jawitz - I am disappointed immeasurably. As an employee, I should be told things like this by my manager first. This had no business being mentioned on a group level (press). What's more, didn't he show up on time? If so, what's wrong with that?


David Rubin -  Coming from a family where being on time was mandatory (and by "on time" I mean at least 15 minutes early) I understand where Terry is coming from. HOWEVER- it's a long Spring for the players, Tejada is going to have to pace himself as it is, and, most importantly, there is a REASON that the Collective Bargaining agreement has a mandatory report date that was agreed upon. Tejada was on time for that date, and by all reports he kept busy in Panama, working out and staying in shape prior to reporting. So put aside the fact that Tejada did nothing wrong, per se, and it's hard to be angry at him. Would it have looked good from a public relations perspective to have the replacement of a (near) perennial all-star at camp early learning to pivot with Daniel Murphy? Yes. In reality, there's plenty of time to make that happen.

Now to the main point of the question, Collins' has made great strides in a single season in convincing players that he can be a manager they not only respect but enjoy playing for...talking to the press about anything prior to speaking to a player about an issue is counter-productive to achieving his ends. As someone who has been responsible for over 1,000 employees at once, I know that if at any time I spoke to another team member about a different team member's performance, I stood to lose respect from all involved. I hope that this isn't the issue that Terry faces, and perhaps he'll learn a lesson from this situation.

A last point; if Tejada was NOT replacing a "Jose Reyes" AND if this was NOT happening in New York, even in the super-information age, there's no way that this would even make it to the newspapers. It's a slow news period, and so everything in New York sports is under the microscope (it always is - it's even moreso during non-peak periods) - just look at the "Lin-sanity" schtick...and that, in a nutshell, is why it's said that not everyone can function under the truly bright lights of the Big Apple. So let's building this mountain, let it recede to being a molehill, and let the smell of fresh-cut grass and broken in cowhide take over and wait for those two sweet words to be said "PLAY BALL!!"


Jeremiah Alley - There isn't much I disagree with when it comes to Collins' methods, but his handling of Ruben Tejada this spring is not justified.  First of all, Collins comes off as being a tad ignorant, considering everyone and their mother knew that Tejada was having visa issues.  I think I initially read he was having issues close to three weeks ago.  Did Collins have no idea he was having visa issues?  I find that hard to believe.  If he indeed had no idea then he needs to do a better job of knowing.

The second thing that leaves me scratching my head is that what good is a deadline to report to spring training if no one adheres to it?  It is unfair for Collins to hold Tejada to any different standard than any other player in this league, or on the Mets for that matter.  Mets position players are required to report on February 25th.  If Tejada shows up early that is great.  But, he is not required to do so, and it should not be held against him if he does not report early.  It is his right to report on the 25th. 

To me the situation is akin to taking vacation days at a "regular" job, but your employer demanding that you cut your vacation short and report back to work when you have already arrived at your destination.  It does not work like that.  You have earned the time off and that should be respected.  It may be prudent for Collins to recognize that viewpoint.

Erik Hudson  - I think he's handled the situation poorly.  How many times has he expressed to the press how disappointed he is in Tejada for not being there early.  And then he's said he handle it internally.  If you're going to handle it internally, it probably would've have been best to not keep bringing it up to the press.

Maybe Collins didn't express his wishes clearly enough to Tejada.  Maybe it got lost in translation.  Tejada is a young kid, and as far as I know, doesn't have a reputation for having an attitude problem, so I don't think it was something intentional on his part.

I wonder if the union has an issue with this?  This isn't the first time a player has ended up in his dog house for not showing up earlier than they were supposed to.

Every year, there are a number of players that can caught up in visa issues.  You'd think that each team, or maybe MLB, would have people tracking the visa status of these players who reside out of the US in the winter, and make sure the paperwork is submitted on time and properly filled out.