Hot Stove: Royals-White Sox

Royals trade Mark Teahen to the White Sox for Chris Getz and Josh Fields

So the White Sox found their replacement to Jermaine Dye? All they had to do was give up their every day second baseman and a player who had never made a true impact on the Sox.

So as difficult as it is to try to get into Kenny Williams mind, let's try play this line of reasoning:

• Teahen can play 3B or RF really for this team. His defense would probably be better than Dye's but not better than Gordon Beckham's.
  
• You could play with an infield of Teahen-Beckham-Ramirez-Konerko around the diamond. Alexei Ramirez's defense at short is probably a factor in moving him to second.
  
• You could acquire a free agent third baseman, use the same infield and replace Dye with Teahen. Though the White Sox will need to get a big bat at 3B to replace that, oh and they have Alex Rios now who hit .199/.229/.301 in 41 games in Chicago.
  
• Judging from MLB Trade Rumors' list of free agent third basemen, the kind of player needed to grab a real offensive impact would be difficult. Chone Figgins would be an impact player but other than that do these names strike you: Adam Kennedy, Melvin Mora, Mark DeRosa, Craig Counsell, Juan Uribe, Adrian Beltre. The only listed free agent under 30 in the MLB Trade Rumors list is failed Cardinals prospect Brian Barden. So the White Sox would have to skew old at another position to fill third.
• It's that or maybe invest in a free agent outfielder or two. This is probably the route to go considering there is a lot more depth in free agents in the outfield than at third.

Let's say for argument's sake they re-sign Scott Podsednik and grab another outfielder/DH type. I mean they could be a landing spot for Vladimir Guerrero. This team needs another player who can hit before we even consider them being a contender. It wouldn't shock me to see either of those two moves happen because the White Sox skew very old as it is. If this team stays in tact as is or close to it, I think we're looking at a team similar to the Giants for part of this decade: old players, very slow runners (minus maybe one or two players) and ok pitching. That might win the Central but I wouldn't bank on it.

Who knows what this means for the Royals. They probably have a few moves left in them for the offseason. Dayton Moore, now technically secure through 2014, can make the deals he want to ensure his long term plan. Other than the chance of having Yunieski Betancourt and Chris Getz be your up the middle combo, sign me up for season tickets now.

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