Nickeas' delay means reprieve for Tejada

For one day, at least, Ruben Tejada earned his reprieve, though it's unlikely to last much longer than that.

With the return of Jose Reyes from the disabled list, the Mets announced Tuesday that Tejada would return to the minors to play shortstop every day for Triple-A Buffalo. He and manager Terry Collins had already had The Talk. His locker was barren. But Mike Nickeas never did make it down from Syracuse to replace Josh Thole, who is out on paternity leave, and Tejada extended his current major-league run for one more day.

Still, Collins said before the game that Tejada, though impressive in his two-month stint in the majors, had waned offensively in the last few weeks and could use additional seasoning. Tejada has gone from hitting .338 on June 10 to .250 entering Tuesday night's game against the Cardinals. His power numbers, too, dropped significantly; when Collins made his announcement, Tejada hadn't had an extra-base hit since a double July 6. His .274 slugging percentage was his lowest since May 21.

"Ruben looks a little tired to me and I told him so," Collins said. "In the last 10 games, he's all of a sudden expanded his strike zone . . . I've seen him start swinging at balls in the dirt now that he didn't swing at two weeks ago.

"I told him he needed to go back to Buffalo."

With Tejada's departure imminent, Collins said he planned to use Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy and Willie Harris at second base. Tejada split time at both short and second, though he hasn't started at the latter position since July 1.

Harris played second in Monday night's makeup against the Marlins and Collins said he thought "he handled himself even though he didn't necessarily get any tough plays. I thought he was in the right position in some things."

Collins added that he believed the Mets would see significantly more of Tejada in the future, with a slight nod to the upcoming trade deadline and the fact that Reyes, who could command more than $100 million, will be a free agent at the end of the season.

"We think we're going to have this guy for a long time," he said. "We have Jose, but you never know; you've got a guy ready to play shortstop."

The key for Tejada's return will likely be increasing his body strength and infusing his swing with more power than he's shown, Collins said. He'll need to tighten his strike zone and concentrate on honing his skills defensively at shortstop -- something that gains increased significance with Reyes' uncertain future.

"He's got some things he needs to work on, which I told him about," Collins said. "I said, don't be at all surprised if the next time you come back will be your last chance you'll see the minor leagues, because he's really close to being an everyday, very good major-league player."