Teahen your starter?

[Dick Allen]

Teahen's a fatass w/no range. I really hope we only see him occasionally in the outfield. He's a waste of space, IMO.

You're probably right, but the difference between this year and last, is the White Sox are counting on Teahen to provide absolutely nothing. Chances are he's a bust again, but anything he gives you that is positive is gravy. His contract is signed, the Sox are most likely stuck with him, maybe something clicks. Obviously we are in the fluff portion of the year, and everyone had a great offseason, is in the greatest shape of their career, and is primed to have the best year of their career. Most of the time, they wind up being who we thought they were. Sometimes there is a surprise. I'm not saying Teahen will surprise. I believe he won't. But there's always a chance.

[Thad Bosley]

Here's the pre-ST Teahen fluff piece.

350-400 at-bats for Teahen is about 150-200 more than I was hoping for.

[Balta1701]

350-400 at-bats for Teahen is about 150-200 more than I was hoping for.

As a lefty backup for 3 positions filled by righties, I could live with it. If he can hit moderately well against RHP which he did last year (.761 OPS) then putting him in for Konerko and Quentin really doesn't hurt us on defense.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Here's the pre-ST Teahen fluff piece.

 

This one was almost as bad as Scott Merkins 'Juan Pierre should be better in year 2 of his AL career' piece.

[Balta1701]

This one was almost as bad as Scott Merkins 'Juan Pierre should be better in year 2 of his AL career' piece.

Seriously? Is this going to be your response to every Feb/March fluff piece?

[Cali]

I'm so afraid Teahen will bust a Brian Anderson in ST, knocking the cover off the ball, then April comes around and he can't buy a hit....

[Balta1701]

I'm so afraid Teahen will bust a Brian Anderson in ST, knocking the cover off the ball, then April comes around and he can't buy a hit....

If Teahen genuinely comes out and seriously outplays Morel, then he's earned a shot to start. If he comes out and spends the next week struggling, he'll move back to the bench fairly quickly.

[greg775]

You're probably right, but the difference between this year and last, is the White Sox are counting on Teahen to provide absolutely nothing. Chances are he's a bust again, but anything he gives you that is positive is gravy. His contract is signed, the Sox are most likely stuck with him, maybe something clicks. Obviously we are in the fluff portion of the year, and everyone had a great offseason, is in the greatest shape of their career, and is primed to have the best year of their career. Most of the time, they wind up being who we thought they were. Sometimes there is a surprise. I'm not saying Teahen will surprise. I believe he won't. But there's always a chance.

 

That's a damn fine post.

[Jerksticks]

If Teahen genuinely comes out and seriously outplays Morel, then he's earned a shot to start. If he comes out and spends the next week struggling, he'll move back to the bench fairly quickly.

 

Does Morel make the team if Teahen wins 3B? I'd think the answer would be no so he can play everyday in AAA. What happens in your scenario then? Call-up after a week or two for Brent? A Vizquel fest? Is Tank on the Roster?

 

Teahen winning the job and then imploding sounds like the worst thing ever.

[Balta1701]

Does Morel make the team if Teahen wins 3B? I'd think the answer would be no so he can play everyday in AAA. What happens in your scenario then? Call-up after a week or two for Brent? A Vizquel fest? Is Tank on the Roster?

 

Teahen winning the job and then imploding sounds like the worst thing ever.

If Teahen takes the job, then the bench becomes Castro, Lilliputian, De Aza, and Vizquel. The bench becomes deeper and better defensively. If Teahen then hits .100 for the first 2 weeks, De Aza gets sent down, Morel comes up, and Morel's had a few extra at bats at AAA.

[witesoxfan]

Personally, it seems like De Aza is the 14th (or 15th, depending on how you view Viciedo) guy on the depth chart. If I am to make a prediction for how it all shakes out, the hitters look something like this

 

C - Pierzynski

1B - Konerko

2B - Beckham

3B - Morel

SS - Ramirez

LF - Pierre

CF - Rios

RF - Quentin

DH - Dunn

 

C - Castro

1B/3B/LF/RF - Teahen

2B/SS/3B - Vizquel

CF/LF/RF/2B/SS - Lillibridge

 

You are probably going to want to have 2 people on the bench who can play SS, Lillibridge is out of options, did show a little bit in a utility role at the end of the season, he can play CF, and really, if the Sox need a guy to stand in the outfield, Dunn can do a little of that too. He does the standing around really well, but not so much with regards to his fielding ability.

[Lemon_44]

I may be the only one who thinks Teahan is going to have a nice year. I thought he was just starting to get comfortable and his hitting was picking up when he got hurt. By the time he returned, Vizquel had unexpectadly played so well that is was hard to remove him from the lineup. I argued last year that there is an ajustment period that everyone goes through probably even moreso with Ozzie. He should feel alot more comfortable this year and I think could easily hit about .275 with 20 HR and 70-80 RBI. I'd think anyone would take that. By no means am I ready to hand over 3rd to Morel based on a late season call up. He shows promise but so have alot of guys. Either one will have to earn it.

[Thad Bosley]

I may be the only one who thinks Teahan is going to have a nice year. I thought he was just starting to get comfortable and his hitting was picking up when he got hurt. By the time he returned, Vizquel had unexpectadly played so well that is was hard to remove him from the lineup. I argued last year that there is an ajustment period that everyone goes through probably even moreso with Ozzie. He should feel alot more comfortable this year and I think could easily hit about .275 with 20 HR and 70-80 RBI. I'd think anyone would take that. By no means am I ready to hand over 3rd to Morel based on a late season call up. He shows promise but so have alot of guys. Either one will have to earn it.

What makes you think Teahen might "easily hit" at this level? Prior to his abysmal 2010 season with the Sox, he had three 524+ at-bat seasons with Kansas City, where the most he was able to muster was 15 homers and 60 RBIs. I'm sorry - he has done NOTHING during his six year career now to suggest he's able to hit at the levels you suggest - levels that aren't even all that great, truth be told. Certainly not for a corner infielder/outfielder, the positions he's purportedly headed to play.

[Jordan4life_2007]

What makes you think Teahen might "easily hit" at this level? Prior to his abysmal 2010 season with the Sox, he had three 524+ at-bat seasons with Kansas City, where the most he was able to muster was 15 homers and 60 RBIs. I'm sorry - he has done NOTHING during his six year career now to suggest he's able to hit at the levels you suggest - levels that aren't even all that great, truth be told. Certainly not for a corner infielder/outfielder, the positions he's purportedly headed to play.

 

Teahen peaked in 2006 at age 24. He's a below average player. It's critical that Morel comes out and earns the job this spring. I just have a horrible feeling that if Teahen hits .400 in the spring likes most scrub players tend to do he'll get the job regardless and we'll be subject to at least a good month of him starting every day at 3B before Ozzie realizes that he's not good and contemplates a switch.

Edited January 30, 2011 by Jordan4life

[Dick Allen]

Personally, it seems like De Aza is the 14th (or 15th, depending on how you view Viciedo) guy on the depth chart. If I am to make a prediction for how it all shakes out, the hitters look something like this

 

C - Pierzynski

1B - Konerko

2B - Beckham

3B - Morel

SS - Ramirez

LF - Pierre

CF - Rios

RF - Quentin

DH - Dunn

 

C - Castro

1B/3B/LF/RF - Teahen

2B/SS/3B - Vizquel

CF/LF/RF/2B/SS - Lillibridge

 

You are probably going to want to have 2 people on the bench who can play SS, Lillibridge is out of options, did show a little bit in a utility role at the end of the season, he can play CF, and really, if the Sox need a guy to stand in the outfield, Dunn can do a little of that too. He does the standing around really well, but not so much with regards to his fielding ability.

You're kidding about Lillibridge right? If he showed a little at the end of the year, whatever he showed I don't want:

 

Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+

June 10 1 7 7 2 3 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 1 .429 .429 1.286 1.714 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 413 348

July 16 5 22 21 5 8 3 0 0 4 2 1 1 9 .381 .409 .524 .933 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 .667 204 153

August 16 6 32 32 7 6 1 1 1 4 1 1 0 9 .188 .188 .375 .563 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 .227 75 52

Sept/Oct 22 10 40 38 5 5 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 17 .132 .175 .132 .307 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238 6 -11

 

 

[WCSox]

I thought he was just starting to get comfortable and his hitting was picking up when he got hurt.

 

This is true, and a lot of people are conveniently forgetting it. That said, I tend to agree with those who don't think that he's going to hit .275 with 20 HRs (even if he got the at-bats, which he probably won't). He doesn't suck nearly as badly offensively as some people here want to believe, but he's still not good enough to play a high-OPS position on a major league team.

 

Any chance that Kenny shops Teahen and offers to eat half of his salary? Or does he want to keep him around in case Morel doesn't pan out immediately?

 

[lostfan]

Thing about Quentin's splits are...he's backwards. He has a career .857 OPS against righties and .773 against lefties. Teahen was almost Kotsay-like against lefties last year. Although Quentin hits right handed, he's a bad guy to put in a righty/lefty platoon.

When have numbers like these ever stopped Ozzie from arbitrarily taking a lefty and a righty and throwing them into a platoon and saying "f*** the numbers"?

[knightni]

If Oz has shown anything in the last 7+ seasons, it's that he doesn't care about numbers. Just L-R-L-R and the 9th inning mandatory closer rule.

[lostfan]

btw his name is T-E-A-H-E-N

[Steve9347]

Pale 'n Hosed

RT @ESPNChiSox Ozzie on whether Morel is his starter at 3B: "That would be a slap in the face of Teahen."

And so it begins!

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Teahen peaked in 2006 at age 24. He's a below average player. It's critical that Morel comes out and earns the job this spring. I just have a horrible feeling that if Teahen hits .400 in the spring likes most scrub players tend to do he'll get the job regardless and we'll be subject to at least a good month of him starting every day at 3B before Ozzie realizes that he's not good and contemplates a switch.

Did Ozzie ever realize Kotsay wasn't good ?

[Quin]

And so it begins!

Edited January 30, 2011 by Quinarvy

[PeavyTime]

I'm sure you guys have seen this, but for anyone who hasn't:

 

Teahen's D flowchart

[ScottyDo]

I'm sure you guys have seen this, but for anyone who hasn't:

 

Teahen's D flowchart

Hahaha, I haven't seen that, and it's amazing.

 

Flowcharts make my soul hurt, though. Stupid biochem.

[Thad Bosley]

This is true, and a lot of people are conveniently forgetting it. That said, I tend to agree with those who don't think that he's going to hit .275 with 20 HRs (even if he got the at-bats, which he probably won't). He doesn't suck nearly as badly offensively as some people here want to believe, but he's still not good enough to play a high-OPS position on a major league team.

Any chance that Kenny shops Teahen and offers to eat half of his salary? Or does he want to keep him around in case Morel doesn't pan out immediately?

Conveniently forgetting what, exactly? That he might have had a week or two there where he was hitting ok before he went down with his injury? Whatever. Truth is up until then he was hitting as he's pretty much hit his previous five, full years in the league, when he's featured a routine no-power/no-speed/high-strikeout offensive performance. Outside of his admittedly nice performance way back in 2006, I don't see how you can't conclude that this guy doesn't "suck" bad offensively, especially if you fairly compare him to his peers around the league at the "high-ops positions" at which he plays.

Edited February 1, 2011 by Thad Bosley