More thoughts about the Teahen trade

I’m heading to a Fiery Furnaces show, and then out of town, so I’m just going to barf out a few more thoughts on the recent post-Teahen developments.
No. 1: I regret that I won’t have many more occasions to use this picture.

We barely had a chance to use it, and now he’s gone.  Chuck Garfien has a good extended exit interview with Chris Getz.
fieldsgloveNo. 2: I’m also going to miss using this picture.
I wonder if Josh Fields is allowed to take the world’s tiniest mitt with him to Kansas City, or if that’s property of Camp Cora.
No. 3: The word is that the Sox received $2 million, which helps a lot.  It’s not thrilling to pay $2 million or so more after an exchange of mediocre players, but their histories indicate that Teahan has the highest baseline for performance.
No. 4: Likewise, it’s not particularly enthralling to see Kenny Williams declare Teahen the starting third baseman. He’s not good defensively, especially when factoring in his bat. But it makes the acqusition make sense from terms of usage, since he and Mark Kotsay are similar players off the bench.
No. 5: Alexei Ramirez should remain at short.  He’s better there — he’s shown better positioning, he seemed to iron out the throwing issue in the second half, and with his aversion to contact, it makes sense to keep him off the pivot.
No. 6: Gordon Beckham should be fine at second in time, but I cringed when I saw this quote:

“I can’t seem to find the position I’ve played my whole career.”

Considering the way the clubhouse reacted to Getz’s seemingly innocuous comment about the team’s rookies providing energy, I now wonder about any statement made from somebody outside the veteran core that could be construed as critical, no matter how harmless it may appear.
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striker

I’m not that worried about Teahen’s defense. Sure it wasn’t great last year but he bounced around alot. Being in the same spot everyday should help him. I also think he can rebound to .280/.350. He’s got talent and hopefully a change of scenery will help bring it out.

timmeh

On a purely fundamental level though, its a completely legitimate argument.

john

I too am very disappointed the Mr. Getz picture will no longer get full usage.
The good thing about the seemingly oversensitive veteran core is that it is now dwindled down to AJ, Konerko, and Buerhle. I have a hard time believing AJ or Buerhle are going to give a damn.
I love that tiny mitt picture. Look at his pinky and ring finger hanging outside of the mitt. Hilarious!!!

john

I obviously haven’t been paying attention to that Fields picture the first 1,284 times I’ve seen it. The normal sized mitt sitting on the base kills me.

pander

So should Tyler be sleeping with one eye open?

cushinglee

I still have bad feelings about this. I’ve mentioned before about whether the White Sox should try going with younger guys and take a hit for a while, or just stick with veterans on the backside of their careers and hang around .500. On the one hand, Dye is let go (which seems a move away from the veteran core) yet one of the young guys is traded for another middle of the road guy. And messing around with Beckham’s position–apparently the White Sox think Bacon is the 21st Century version of Sandberg.

pander

I would take Sandberg. How about the late 2000’s version of Bret Boone? Minus the roids?
I’m happy we’ll have our first 2B with a solidly plus bat since Ray Durham. Think of how different this year is compared to most of the past decade.
No RF planned, vs. Maggs/Dye
No LF planned, vs. Lee/Pods
A CF with a reputation as a low-effort guy with a good bat (albeit a rough year last year) vs. all-glove grindyness with Rowand/Anderson/(plus no-glove Erstad, but he was white!)
A 2B with a bat vs…well…everyone since Durham.
No DH vs. Big Frank/Thome
Two solid 5th starter options vs. Broadway/Masset/Richards/Porzio/Torres/McCarthy/the-list-goes-on (with an exception for the glorious 2005 run of el Duque, which lasted half the season)
What’s the same? 1B, C, and *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* the bullpen.

timmeh

I wouldn’t take KW comments about Teahen starting at 3B too seriously. The Sox still can aquire a 3B or OF and move Teahen to the final unfilled position. KW still has flexibility, we’ll see what he decides to do with it.

newcomer

All I know is Hawk will love this trade. Acquiring a Sox-killer!
And timmeh, that’s the positive I can get out of this trade: Kenny fills one hole while leaving himself flexibility in which next piece to add.

pander

Hawk won’t love this trade unless he finds out that Teahan can do the worm.

knoxfire30

Congrads to MB on his first gold glove he deserved it.
And hats off to the idot voters, Derek Jeter needs a walker to play shortstop at this point in his career, he literally is closer to the worst Shortstop in the AL then he is the best. What a joke!

blah

Gold Gloves are more like Lifetime achievement awards. You get them if people really like you.