Rubén Darío Tejada (born October 27, 1989) is a Panamanian professional baseball shortstop for the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, and Baltimore Orioles.

[1] Tejada grew up mere feet away from Omar Torrijos Herrera Stadium where his father was also a pitcher for Los Indios de Veraguas.

[2] Growing up, Tejada's favorite baseball players were shortstops Derek Jeter and Omar Vizquel.

[3] In 2003, at 13 years old, Tejada began playing for Los Indios de Veraguas’ junior team as a pitcher.

With the activation of Luis Castillo from the DL on July 19, 2010, the Mets optioned Tejada to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

[4] He was re-called on August 7, after Alex Cora was released and Jesús Feliciano was demoted to Triple A Buffalo Bisons.

On September 5, 2010 in the seventh inning Tejada hit his first major league home run off Cubs pitcher Marcos Mateo on the first pitch.

[6] Once Jose Reyes signed with the Miami Marlins, Rubén Tejada became the New York Mets starting shortstop for the 2012 season.

Tejada was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad and called up shortstop Omar Quintanilla from the Mets triple-A affiliate Las Vegas 51s to take his spot on the roster.

[10] MLB subsequently dropped Utley's suspension on March 6, 2016, with Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre stating "There wasn't anything clear-cut to say that play violated a rule.

Tejada made his first major league appearance as a pitcher on May 20 in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitching one complete inning while allowing two earned runs, on back-to-back home runs to Chris Herrmann and Brandon Drury.

[25] Tejada made his Orioles debut the next night against the Pittsburgh Pirates replacing an injured Manny Machado.

[33] Tejada played in 72 games for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, hitting .231 with no home runs and 15 RBI.

[36] On February 9, 2023, Tejada signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

On December 11, 2024, Tejada was traded to the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League in exchange for Adeiny Hechavarria.

[40] In the tournament itself, Tejada slashed .333/.375/.667 with five hits in 15 at-bats; was one of the most productive hitters on the Panama squad, with a team-leading OPS of 1.042.