This is a smart, outside-the-box way to move Teahen to a position where his bat would be an asset. Can he handle the position defensively? Who knows. If not, then it was worth a try. If so, his value to the team goes up greatly.

And of course he isn’t even close to the best defensive OFer on the team. DDJ and Crisp are much, much better according to every metric and the scouts.

I kid, mostly.

Teahen was among the infielders down at manager Trey Hillman’s Texas ranch last week and took three groundball sessions at second base

He definitely sounds “excited”:

Teahen last played there his freshman year in college… "It’ll definitely be tough to try to perfect second base while still doing some outfield and some third base and first base, you know?" Teahen says. "But I have to do what I have to do.

not even in the same league.

It’ll be a fine move if it works.

But I can’t think of a precedent just now. I know that Freddy Sanchez made the move from 3rd to 2nd with Pittsburgh, but he had been a utility infielder earlier in his career and had appeared often at 2nd before he became a regular there.

As long as Bloomquist isn’t stealing at-bats from somebody else.

Give it a shot. As we both know, there is no single type for a good 2B, RF, 3B or any position. You can provide good value to your team by being great defensively at a position and below average offensively. Or you can provide the same value by being very good offensively for the position and fairly poor defensively. Or anywhere in between. Let’s just give it a shot in ST and see how he looks.

"if they were going to move Teahen to second, why did they trade for Callaspo and sign Wee Willie"

I really doubt they are looking for Teahen to be the starting 2B, but of course anything is possible. I think they are looking for ways to get him a bunch of AB’s. And if he can add 2B to the positions he plays and make him a 5-position super-utility man it just makes him that much more useful to the team. And it provides insurance if Callaspo quickly turns to crap or if he has another off-field incident.

Silliness. - TL

Dave Cameron had some good pieces on this, too (deriving from Tango)

What he found was that people who played both did similarly well at both, and they really seem to be sorted by size

I’d argue that the only difference between fielding 2B and 3B is that (barring some psychotic shift) the 2B never has to guard the line. They appear different because a lot of balls hit toward 3B don’t become data points. The only exception to that class of results is a dropped foul pop which becomes an error, but otherwise a foul grounder or a foul pop the 3B simply can’t get to don’t “count” anywhere statistically.

Counter-balancing this, however, is that In most plate appearances the 3B is able to play further off the bag than the 2B can, and as such still has plenty of opportunity to show range to his right.

DM seems to “promise” players to start all over the place all the time! We’ve got 2 catchers, 4 1B, 3 2B now all thinking they’ve been promised to start!

So maybe I can get him to pay Hillman a visit.

Worthy of Terry Cashman’s talents.

Callaspo 2B platoon would also allow Teahen to spell Guillen in RF against a tough RHP/inevitable injury. Also, given DDJ and CC’s histories of nagging injuries, I’m sure there will be many opportunities for Teahen to play COF while DDJ/CC/Bloomers fill the CF slot. This is where Bloomers’ IF/OF versatility and Callaspo’s switch hitting give us a lot more possibilities. Callaspo is not horrible against RHP’s, and Willie can play all the OF slots acceptably as well as MIF. Does Maier have options left and is he still our best callup OF in the event of an extended stint on the DL for one of the starting OF’s?

Maybe guys will subconsciously be a little more hesitant to crash into Teahan cause he’s bigger than your average 2B. Doubtful, but if he’s quick and athletic enough to make the turn (and he should have the arm strength) while also being a brick wall, it could make someone think twice about coming hard into him to break up the DP.

Average, sure. But plus is stretching it a little.

For some weird reason, Shealy sucks against lefties. Billy Crushes them.

Between Teahen and Callaspo in the field, Bloomquist probably would start. At least he bats better than TPJ.

Rany might have implied something like that back in his FRAA-fueled “Gordon can’t play 3B!!!” hysteria, but that would be about it. Even CHONE’s projections, which hate Gordon’s defense at third (I suspect i know why, but that’s a long story), see Teahen as worse. bUZR sees Gordon as better. So does the Fans Scouting Report.

Plus, I think Teahen’s arm issues alone (shoulder surgery, questionable infield throwing before that, but others with better amateur scout eyes than me) would make Gordon a better 3B candidate.

This just really seems crazy. I actually came here to echo some of the negativity but was then shocked to read some of the nay sayers actually thinking this is positive!

That’s because we’re not just naysayers. We react positively to smart moves and negatively to stupid moves. This is one of the former.

To take a guy that has never done it before at any level (that I know of) and ask that he do it competently in the Majors seems to border on fantasy.

Did it border on fantasy when Iwamura moved from 3B to 2B? Have you seen any of the research discussed in this thread that shows that players tend to be as good defensively at 2B as they were at 3B? The two positions don’t require such different skills as you seem to imply. So no, it isn’t just a wild, crazy fantasy. He might be able to pull it off and he may not. But this is positive because the Royals (unlike some fans) are thinking outside the box on this one. For once the management isn’t just going by old school, traditional cookie cutter body types for positions. It appears that the Royals might be willing to sacrifice some defense for some offense at a position up the middle. And that is a very good thing.

Also, as for the love of Teahan’s bat, it seems like people forget his woeful underachivement the past two seasons and that Callaspo hit in the .300s and had an 18 game hitting streak last year.

First, Teahen actually hit pretty well in 2007. OBP counts, and it counts for a lot. His 2007 production at 2B would be a huge plus. Second, Teahen projects to be about a .770 OPS player in 2009, and that is well above average for a 2B. And having a player hit better than average for his position is very rare on the Royals in recent years. We need as many as we can get. Third, I like Callaspo and I wouldn’t mind him being the full-time starter all season, but he’s anything but a sure bet to be a decent hitter. HIs 2008 numbers are a pretty small sample size and his batting average is pretty meaningless, except to perhaps show that his high OBP might not be sustainable since it was mostly from his batting average.

To me, the best us of Teahan would be at first base and having Jacobs DH, or have Teahan platoon with Billy Butler at DH.

Wow, you want to marginalize the best young player of the group? The one with the most upside who really needs to be playing every day? Teahen at first base and Jacobs at DH would be a horrendous, Farnsworth-like mistake. Teahen shouldn’t ever get anywhere near first base. His bat just can’t carry him there and his defense isn’t enough to make up for it. He shouldn’t even be in the mix at that position. Butler must play everyday, preferably at first, but if not at DH. Jacobs should DH only and preferably in a platoon with someone like Shealy.

How To Spot a Math Major

Step 1 – Ask him who his favorite slugger is.

No wait, that’s how to spot a German spy during the Battle of the Bulge.

Step 1 – See if he floats.

No, that’s something else as well.

Step 1 – Ask him whether he remembers that the game is played on the field.

Yes, that’s the test. If he seems surprised or disagrees, or even if he says, “Thank you ever so much for that insight, my good man, and by the way, have you seen my slide rule?” then you have him.

I’d like to just trade him. But, I’d rather have him than Gload or Bloomy or TPJ. Maybe even German.

Also, I agree with NYR on Teahen vs. Butler. Butler is/will be much better hitter than Teahen will ever dream and needs to play everyday.

The snark arises not because of this particular idea or its likelihood of success but because of its odd fit with other decisions the organization has made this winter. Their level of commitment to it, with a variety of experienced second basemen already on the roster, can’t be very far from what they’d have to any of these snarky suggestions.

No risk in trying, sure, but no dependence on success either. Probably it’s time to move on to the next molehill.

I’m not surprised, although the gap isn’t as far apart as one would have thought