JUPITER, Fla. — The Mets told Jhonny Peralta they had a Ruben Tejada problem, but only offered him two years to solve it or one fewer than the superior team in New York, the Yankees, were proposing and two fewer than arguably the best-run team in the whole sport, the Cardinals.
Thus, the Mets finished a distant third on their first choice to be their 2014 shortstop because, Peralta told The Post’s Mike Puma: “The offer they made was not really good.”
Peralta, who signed for $53 million with the Cardinals, did not start on Sunday and, as it turned out, neither did Tejada, who was pulled from the lineup with what was termed a tight left hamstring. But it could have been termed this way — the Mets still have a Ruben Tejada problem.
For public consumption, they say he is stronger after his University of Michigan strength/conditioning offseason work, that he is a good kid who does well at blocking out all the negativity that surrounds him and that they believe the skills that pushed him to a .360 on-base percentage in 2011 are still salvageable.
Privately, though, they are dubious about his conditioning, toughness and motivation.
They clearly wanted to move on from Tejada, definitely do not see him as the long-range answer. But, right now, the belief is that come March 31 at Citi Field, against the Nationals, Tejada will be the shortstop.
Of course, that depends on whether the version of Tejada supposedly in better shape can get to the start line. Terry Collins had intended to have him in the lineup Sunday and Monday, but Tejada couldn’t even get an inning in. He says he felt some grabbing in the hamstring and decided caution was best in such a vital spring for him.
And the Mets shortstop plight is underscored by what is behind Tejada on the depth chart — Omar Quintanilla and 31-year-old minor leaguer Anthony Seratelli. Yet, the Mets currently believe the earliest they will address the shortstop position is during the season. Here is why:
Stephen Drew
Executives I have spoken with say the Mets have indicated they will not add significantly to their 2014 payroll. Thus, while Drew’s asking price has fallen, it will probably never sink to a level these Mets are willing to spend.
Drew remains a free agent and his agent, Scott Boras, has said his client might even wait until June — when a team would no longer lose a draft pick for signing him. Or perhaps a team will have a desperate need and budge before that. Well, the Mets’ situation looks desperate and there seems no budging.
Nick Franklin
Seattle with Franklin and Brad Miller and the Diamondbacks with Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings have shortstop battles ongoing. Thus, both will have depth to trade, and the Mets talked to both at the Winter Meetings. But there has been no strong talks recently.
Executives say both teams are asking for big returns because shortstops are hard to find and all in the discussion have options so they can be sent to the minors for depth or for trade at a later date when needs become more obvious.
The Mariners are viewed as more likely to deal in spring, since they have must-win pressure in 2014 (after signing Robinson Cano for $240 million), plus they already have incurred pitching injuries to Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker, though their general manager, Jack Zduriencik, told me he expects both starters back in April.
Zduriencik said Miller versus Franklin is a fair fight, but the outside perception is Miller’s defense gives him an edge.
In fact, there are questions whether the switch-hitting Franklin, mainly a shortstop in the minors, has the range to continue at the position.
As one NL personnel man said, “Franklin is more a second baseman than shortstop. He could do it at shortstop, but you will always want better defense. Franklin (who had 12 homers in 369 rookie at-bats in 2013) will have power, but it’s a lot of strikeouts. In some ways he reminds me a lot of [Washington’s] Danny Espinosa, who also played some shortstop in the minor leagues before transitioning to second. He also had power and contact issues.”
Seattle has had a scout at every Mets spring game (former Mets GM Joe McIlvaine) while the Diamondbacks have not. And Zduriencik did say, “We have a surplus at a desired position and that has generated a lot of interest.”
Keep this in mind, though: The Mets are not the only team looking for a shortstop. The Yanks, for example, would like to add someone who provides infield depth now and would replace Derek Jeter in 2015.
Wilmer Flores
The Mets are experimenting with him again at short after he spent the winter in Michigan and slimmed down. The best-case scenario is Peralta Lite — a range-challenged shortstop, but one with sure hands and a strong arm, whose offensive upside is worth the defensive issues.
However, even most Mets officials are skeptics. He did play the final few innings Sunday at short and Collins said, “I am intrigued. We will run him out there and see what we have.”
This is what the Mets must resort to. After all, they still have a Ruben Tejada problem.