Teahen comes to the White Sox - Yawn!
The 2009 baseball season has been put to bed as of Wednesday night, and the Chicago White Sox have wasted no time in making a deal with the Kansas City Royals.
General Manager Kenny Williams has sent Josh Fields and Chris Getz packing to bring in Mark Teahen.I’m not surprised to see Fields traded away, but I think the Sox are giving up a bit too much in this deal by sending Getz along with him.
As a rookie, Getz played a serviceable second base, and I suspect his defense will improve as he get more playing time in the Big Leagues. He also showed a good amount of speed on the bases, which Williams and skipper Ozzie Guillen have pined for in recent years.
Fields does not fit in with the current White Sox. With the meteoric rise of Gordon Beckham, and the addition of Mark Kotsay (who agreed to a one-year with the Sox on the same day), Fields is man without a home on Chicago’s South Side. I think could develop into an everyday Major Leaguer, but he can’t keep striking out one out of every three at-bats and hope to keep a steady job.
Meanwhile, the Sox get a fairly mediocre player in Teahen, whose production has significantly dropped since he had his career year back in 2006 when he hit. 290 with a career-high 18 dingers and 69 RBI. Last year, his average improved to .271 from 2008, knocked a dozen balls out the park and drove in a scant 50 base runners.
It will be interesting to see what Guillen decides to do with Teahen. He can play third base, or right field. If you consider this trade, and the Kotsay signing, it’s easy to conclude that Jermaine Dye’s days with the White Sox are over.
If Guillen puts Teahen in right, your 2010 White Sox outfield looks like this: Carlos Quentin in left, Alex Rios in center, and Teahen in right. For a team with defensive woes in 2009, this is not a very comforting outfield. In fact its frightening.
Or, Guillen could put Teahen at third, move Beckham to his natural position at shortstop, and put Alexei Ramirez back at second base.
A third possibility is that Teahen gives Guillen another guy on the roster with a lot of flexibility to play around with his lineup. He can put Teahen in the outfield or third, as well as play around with Kotsay at right and first base.
I don’t like that scenario, as I would rather see Guillen keep other players at regular positions, especially Beckham. Beckham is guy who will need stability at one position to be an effective defensive player.
In all, this trade doesn’t excite me. I would have rather waited to see what Chris Getz can give you next year, as the arrow seems to be pointing up with him. Teahen on the other hand, at age 28, is what he is - a jack-of-all-trades with a mediocre bat.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of Williams’ work this offseason.
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November 6th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
You’re right. Not much sizzle in this deal. Teahen was a fan favorite in KC and I hated to see him go. He’s a guy with class and character. I hope the White Sox put him at third or right field and leave him there. I’d like to see his offensive production under those conditions. He’s an outstanding base runner that Ozzie might be able to take better advantage of than the Royals did. He’ll be average to below defensively whatever they do with him. Don’t know how much cash the Royals sent along with Teahen, but I suspect it will about cover his expected arbitration raise (1 to 1.5 MM maybe). This is a financially wise move for the Royals and the acquisition of Getz gives the them some trade flexibility going forward in the off season. Teahen is a decent piece on a good team. Hope he does well for the White Sox, even when they play the Royals.