Dillon Atkinson: Adding Tejada creates questions in Orioles infield

On Tuesday afternoon, the Orioles added Triple-A Norfolk infielder Rubén Tejada to the 25-man roster and designated infielder Paul Janish for assignment. Janish, 34, has appeared in 14 games in each of the 2015 and 2016 seasons for the Birds, as well as three games this year. The 27-year-old Tejada was acquired by the Orioles on Sunday evening in a trade that involved sending cash considerations to the Yankees.

Tejada has played in seven major league seasons, mostly with the Mets. He played 36 total games between the Cardinals and Giants just a season ago. Tejada has posted a .252/.327/.320 slash line in his career, while showing the ability to play shortstop, second base and third base. He has logged 3,633 career innings at short, 952 innings at second and 282 1/3 innings at the hot corner.

He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees this past offseason, slashing .269/.345/.462 with six home runs in 37 games with the club's Triple-A affiliate prior to being dealt to Baltimore. His addition to the Orioles looks like a good upgrade over Janish, but it makes me ponder four questions about Tejada and the Orioles infield going forward?

Which Tejada will the Orioles get?: From 2011 through 2015 with the Mets, Tejada was at his best. He slashed .261/.333/.328 over the five seasons, playing a solid shortstop, while also getting reps in at second base and third base. However, thrown right in the middle of those years is a 2013 season when he batted just .202/.259/.260 over 57 games. Also, after the infamous Chase Utley slide that broke Tejada's leg in the 2015 playoffs, the six-year Met only saw 36 major league games in 2016, split between the Giants and Cardinals. In those games, he slashed just .167/.247/.242 over his limited 78 plate appearances. If Tejada is 100 percent healthy and gets more playing time than Janish or Ryan Flaherty saw, my guess is he'll be more like his 2011-to-2015 self. If he receives similar playing time to the two mentioned above, I'd be willing to bet his 2013 and 2016 campaigns will be what is more likely. Speaking of Flaherty...

Does Flaherty have a secure spot when he is healthy and returns from the disabled list?: Flaherty was placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to May 19, due to a strained right shoulder. He is scheduled to see Dr. Michael Jacobs on Friday, with hopes to be cleared to start throwing. Until Friday, the timetable for his return is unclear. But when he does return, it's possible that his utility infielder spot may not be his any longer. Flaherty, 30, has a .216/.285/.356 slash line since entering the big leagues with the Birds in 2012. He has a 24.5 percent strikeout rate in his career, compared to Tejada's 15.1 percent. Flaherty has shown that he is an above-average defender at third base and second base, but J.J. Hardy has needed more off days than Manny Machado or Jonathan Schoop, and Tejada's primary position is shortstop. It all depends on how much Tejada is used, in which spots, and how he performs both offensively and defensively over the time that Flaherty is on the shelf. If Tejada does well, Flaherty's spot shouldn't be guaranteed when he returns.

Will Tejada dig into Hardy's reps at shortstop?: There's no secret that Hardy's production this year has been nearly non-existent. He has come up with some late key hits in a couple of games this season, but his .205/.241/.295 slash line is just not good at all. He has never posted an fWAR below zero heading into 2017, but he has already been worth negative-0.8 fWAR this season. It's hard to dig into Hardy's playing time, no matter how much he's struggling, due to his leadership in the infield and clubhouse. But with Tejada in the fold, we may see more and more off days for Hardy as the season goes along.

Could Machado and Schoop receive more off days in the coming months?: In 2015 and 2016, Tejada started getting more reps at second base and third base, expanding his profile to a full utility infielder. If he hits like he did between 2011 and 2015, he could not only play his way into more playing time, but he could give more off days to Machado and Schoop. Machado played in 157 games last season (four of his five days off were due to a suspension), and Schoop played all 162. Machado batted .318/.375/.569 in the first half, while posting a line of just .266/.306/.492 in the second half. Schoop slashed .304/.338/.509 in the first half, but batted just .225/.252/.391 after the All-Star break. It's possible that the two stars in the infield need more days off over the long season. If Tejada can produce enough, it's possible that he could give both Machado and Schoop more breaks over the course of the season.

When it comes to my last three questions, it seems like the common factor will be the answer to question No. 1. If Tejada can produce enough, it's possible that he could not only take Flaherty's job for the remainder of the season, but he could also be in the lineup multiple times each week, giving much-needed breaks for Hardy, Machado and Schoop.

Dillon Atkinson blogs about the Orioles for Orioles Uncensored. Follow him on Twitter: @DAtkinsonOU. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.