First Trade Of The Offseason

I’m not counting the Aki Iwamura trade to the Pirates because 1. It technically didn’t happen in the offseason and 2. I’m mad Bill Smith wouldn’t pony up more than a fringe reliever to get it done.

Kenny Williams makes the first move of the offseason, which should surprise no one, and acquires Mark Teahen from the Kansas City Royals for Chris Getz and Josh Fields.

Teahen is a career .269/.331/.419 hitter, which is about average, but he is terrible defensively. His career UZR at 3rd base is around -23 runs, and overall he has been worth -24 runs for his career. Supposedly, the White Sox plan on using him in the outfield. He has a career UZR of 1.9 in left, and about -3 in right. Couple that with a below average bat, and you’re looking at a terrible player. Couple THAT with a contract that paid Teahen 3.5 million last year in his first year of arbitration, and you have a complete waste of money. Kenny Williams might as well burn money. It’s not as bad as the Swisher trade, but this is an unnecessary expense.

Chris Getz can’t hit. He has a .311 wOBA for his career. But, he can play 2B OK (even if his 2009 UZR is terrible) and he’s cheap. Same thing with Fields. He probably will have to DH. His major league numbers aren’t anything to write home about, but he does have a good minor league track record and some power upside (.187 career ISO). And again, he’s cheap.

This is probably going to end up being a nothing trade, but turning two bad, cheap players into one ok expensive one seems like at best a step sideways for Kenny Williams.