Not even twelve hours into the off-season, Kenny Williams has made his first roster move. 2B Chris Getz and 3B Josh Fields were traded to the Kansas City Royals this morning for 3B/OF Mark Teahen. For those unfamiliar with Teahen, he is a 28 year old who bats lefty and owns a career .269/.331/.419/.749 line with an OPS+ of 97. For what it's worth, he has hit very well at the Cell. He becomes the second member of the infamous Oakland Athletics' Moneyball draft to join the White Sox. Here's hoping his tenure here is more enjoyable than the previous one was.
I'm not really sure how to feel about this trade. Fields' career with the Pale Hose was over, so I'm happy he gets to see a new organization. I don't like that Getz is gone. Teahen has been worth .4 WAR combined over the past two seasons and has seen his walk rate drop each year since 2007. If he can get back to drawing walks like he did in 2006 and 2007, he can be valuable again. Another sticking point is salary. Teahen made 3.75 mil last season and is arbitration eligible. We just added another 4 million to the team payroll with this trade. The thing I wonder about now is what is Kenny's next move? If Teahen really is starting in right, is Nix the new 2B? Are Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez going to be shifted around the infield? At least we know it's going to be an interesting off-season.