Mark Teahen is the guy you want as your neighbor and will let your kids ride with to school.  He’s affable     and charitable, humorous and generous.  He’s a tough competitor on the field, a great teammate in the clubhouse, and a role model off the field.  But he won’t wear a Kansas City uniform in 2010.  That’s how the business of baseball works.

Friday afternoon Royals’ General Manager Dayton Moore met with the local media to publicly announce the deal that sends Teahen to the south side of Chicago for Chris Getz and Josh Fields.  Although sentimentally distasteful, the trade makes sense for the Royals.

Moore’s press conference was extremely revealing as it relates to the rationale for the transaction and what it means for the team going forward.  He emphasized that in Getz and Fields the Royals have acquired two players with less than three years of major league service time.  He explained that it was their “goal to acquire as many of these as possible.”  He went on to say that the two new acquisitions “fit with us, especially with their service time” and that each is “somebody we control for the next five years.”

It is obvious where this is leading.  The Mark Teahens of the world don’t fit in the Royals’ financial and personnel paradigm.  Serviceable players, whose major league tenure pushes their salaries upward in spite of pedestrian production, are a luxury KC can’t afford.  Instead, they will opt for younger, non-arbitration eligible players.  Such players are considerably cheaper.  Their expected performance is only marginally less.  And they have some potential upside.  If only one such player morphs into a productive major-leaguer, the Royals have struck gold.  At least it’s a plan.

GM Moore was unusually frank when he acknowledged the failure of management’s past efforts.  “It hasn’t worked…we have to do what we have to do to shake up our team.”  That’s no great revelation, but at least the admission was refreshingly honest.  When asked if the deal was financially driven, Moore said simply, “I would not discount that as a part of the equation.”  In fact, it is the prime number in any Royals’ baseball equation.

Here are those financial ramifications.  Teahen made just over $3.5MM in 2009 and was expected to bring down in the $5MM range after arbitration.  The cash considerations that went to the White Sox along with him figure to offset that arbitration raise.  Meanwhile Getz and Fields made about $400,000 each last year.  It means the Royals have freed up around $2.5 to $3 million.

So what does the trade do for the Royals on the field?  Twenty-six year-old Chris Getz comes to Kansas City after a decent rookie campaign with the White Sox where he handled the regular second base duties most of the 2009 season.  In 107 games, he hit .261 with a .324 OBP.  That’s nothing to rave about, but not a bad inaugural season.  The infielder has little pop in his bat, but swiped 25 bases in 27 attempts to lead the league in stolen base percentage.  Now there’s something the Royals can use.  Moore was also intent on upgrading the infield defense this off-season.  Getz had seven errors in his two-thirds of a year.  Not too shabby.  And he should add considerable range up the middle.  Moore described Getz’s 2009 play as “a solid, steady second base.”  Royals’ fans will take that.                                                                                                                                 

Josh Fields is a former first round draft pick of the White Sox in 2004 and whacked 23 home runs as a rookie in 2007.  But he could not follow through and spent much of the last two seasons trying to find his game in the minors.  Fields strikes out often, walks seldom, and plays spotty defense at third or in left field.  The Royals will hope that batting coach Kevin Seitzer can help Fields find his power stroke while instilling some plate discipline.  If that happens he could be a useful DH.  The upside is worth a shot.

Viewed by itself, this deal does little to improve the Royals.  The value of this trade will be seen as the off-season unfolds.  With Getz as the likely everyday second baseman, Alberto Callaspo or Alex Gordon becomes a potential trade piece that has some reasonable value.  What Dayton Moore does going forward will ultimately determine whether this trade proves favorable for the Royals.

Good luck in Chicago, Mark, and thanks.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 1:38 pm and is filed under AL, AL-Central, Baseball, Kansas City Royals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.