Mark Teahen traded to the White Sox

A few days ago I was sitting in a conference center out in the boonies of New Mexico when I fired up my computer in one of the few places on campus with internet access and read an email saying there was a rumor going around that Mark Teahen had been traded to the White Sox.

I’ve been working 13 hour days and haven’t had much time to follow everything that’s been said since the trade became reality. I’ll leave the evaluation of the statistics of the players involved to others. But from my perspective this trade doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Royals.

Dayton Moore traded a decent everyday player in Mark Teahen for two players who play positions that we presumably have covered. I can see how the trade will help the White Sox. I can’t really see a ton of upside for the Royals, unless both Josh Fields and Chris Getz end up taking over for Alex Gordon and/or Alberto Callaspo. But even if they don’t, I guess they’ll add depth to the roster. And Getz does have options, so the Royals have a little wiggle room if they don’t have a place for him to start the season.

Moore cited eligibility as being an important factor in the trade, saying he wants to get as many zero-to-three guys as he can, which makes sense from an economic standpoint, but in reality, isn’t that just admitting you want to stay in a perpetual rebuilding process?

I’m indifferent about the trade, in a baseball sense. Not so much in the personal sense. I liked the fact that Mark Teahen was part of our ballclub. He never complained about being moved around defensively from one year to the next. He genuinely seemed to like playing for the Royals. He did a ton of work in the community. And, generally speaking, I enjoy cheering for the same group of core players for the long haul.

Mark Teahen has been one of those players.

It’s true that he never quite became the player we thought he might. But I’m still hoping he’ll turn into the player—even though he’ll be playing for another team.