By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO(AP) -- Mark Teahen has a new team and a new city. Happily
for him, he's got his old position back.
The Kansas City Royals sent Teahen to the White Sox on Friday
and Chicago will find a home for him at third base.
"That's really my comfort position," Teahen said. "It's huge.
The past three years I haven't known where I'm going to play and
the past 24 hours I haven't know what city I'm going to play
in."
The Royals got Chris Getz and Josh Fields from the White Sox in
exchange.
Teahen was established at third base in Kansas City, but three
years ago the Royals called up Alex Gordon, who'd been the No. 2
overall draft pick two years earlier.
Thus began a trip around the diamond for Teahen and he never
really settled in at any position.
Teahen batted .271 with a 12 home runs and 50 RBIs in 144 games
with the Royals in 2009, battling a sore back in the final month
of the season. He made 99 starts at third base, 31 in right
field and three at second base.
Chicago general manager Ken Williams said Teahen would be the
White Sox's starting third baseman and last year's rookie star,
Gordon Beckham, would be switched from third to second. Williams
said Beckham, who was a star shortstop at the University of
Georgia before being a first-round pick in 2008, was OK with the
change.
Teahen said he can handle the outfield but prefers to play the
position where he broke in with the Royals in 2005.
"It is tough when you are coming to the ball park every day just
kind of checking the lineup card and seeing where you're playing
and figuring out where you are hitting in the lineup," Teahen
said.
"I've always produced better when I've just been left alone," he
said. "And playing third base I've been most productive there.
My hope is settling back in there I can put up some bigger
offensive numbers and not have to worry about as much stuff."
Teahen is a career .269 hitter with 59 home runs and 293 RBIs in
676 career games, all with Kansas City. The White Sox also got
cash considerations in the deal.
"He's a delight to be around day in and day out. We're going to
miss him," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "But at the
end of the day we believe this was a good baseball trade for
both organizations. We're happy to be able to make the deal."
Teahen could make as much as $5 million through arbitration. Was
that a consideration?
"Obviously, we're in a time in baseball where the economics are
very, very important. I would not discount that as a part of the
equation," Moore said.
Kansas City also declined options for outfielder Coco Crisp ($8
million), catcher Miguel Olivo ($3.3 million) and right-hander
Yasuhiko Yabuta ($4 million). Crisp and Olivo became eligible
for free agency.
Crisp and Yabuta each get $500,000 buyouts and Olivo receives
$100,000.
Getz became Chicago's starting second basemen last season,
batting .261 with two homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in 107
games. He impressed manager Ozzie Guillen with his gritty play.
Fields, a former college quarterback at Oklahoma State, appeared
in 29 games and batted .222 with seven homers and 30 RBIs last
season. Fields show immense promise as a rookie in 2007 when he
filled in for injured Joe Crede and hit 23 homers in 100 games.
But his career with the White Sox never took off after that. And
after Beckham was called up, it was clear he had no future with
the team.
The trade was announced shortly after the White Sox said they
had declined a 2010 option on right fielder Jermaine Dye.
Williams said he talked with Dye on Friday and there was no way
at this time to fit him in. The White Sox gave the veteran a
$950,000 buyout instead of $12 million in salary next season.
But Williams did not rule out the possibility of Dye returning,
saying it would be a long offseason. He said the White Sox were
still in the market for another outfielder and that it likely
will not be Scott Podsednik, who rejoined the White Sox last
season and gave them a lift from the leadoff spot.
"Money is tight all over the world and certainly on the South
Side," Williams said. "We're going to spend whatever we have
available, but it's not much."
The left-handed hitting Teahen is a player the White Sox have
watched for a while and even inquired about his availability
last season, Williams said.
Teahen had a career-high 34 doubles last season and the White
Sox figure that in homer-friendly U.S. Cellular Field some of
those will clear the fence.
----=
AP Sports Writer Doug Tucker in Kansas City contributed to this
report.
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