Phillies coaching hire of former NY Mets player isn’t as awkward as it may seem

There are certain moments that live on in infamy. From the 2015 New York Mets season, there was plenty of drama. One of those “you’ll never forget where you were” moments was when Chase Utley broke Ruben Tejada’s leg with a slide into second base. I was in The Philippines, of all places, when it happened.

More than a decade later, Tejada’s career is over but his involvement in baseball isn’t. There weren’t too many more awkward places for him to land than where he did: a job with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Awkward much? Considering the ruthless Utley slide had no Phillies involvement at all, it’s an indirect level of weirdness. Utley will forever be thought of as a Phillies player first even if his dirtiest play versus the Mets was in a different uniform.

Ruben Tejada will join the Phillies organization in a situation that feels weirder than it is

Tejada will work as a position coach in the Florida Complex League, placing him well away from the major league team. The Phillies connection isn’t actually all that unusual. He played 72 games for their Triple-A squad in 2021.

It’s impossible to shake the connection. Utley remains a beloved member of the Phillies and a villain in the eyes of Mets fans. Utley has never formally apologized, more so skirting around the result by saying he expected things to go down differently. No wonder he is a hero in the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia universe. He sounds like he'd fit right in with the gang.

Tejada has been playing in Mexico for the last few seasons, officially hanging it up at age 36. He last played in the majors back in 2019 when he returned to the Mets. He was 0 for 9 in the limited opportunities.

The unfortunate part about Tejada’s career is he was never the same after the injury. The Mets released him in March 2016 and he floated around the league mostly in the minors for the rest of his career. A lifetime .250/.324/.317 hitter, he was a useful middle infielder ready to impart his wisdom onto younger players. Let’s just hope he doesn’t mentor or coach up any of those Phillies prospects too hard.