Does Mark Teahen Have Trade Value?

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Twenty-three year old Craig Italiano was a prospect after posting 1.16 ERA over 14 Low A-ball starts in 2008, but imploded to a 9.90 ERA upon his promotion to the High A level.   Still at High A this season, Craig had 75 strikeouts in 76.2 innings, but had also been tagged for 40 walks and 83 hits on his way to a 5.63 ERA.  

Keep in mind, however, that this is all in the California League, which is something other than "pitcher friendly."  Although their styles are nothing alike, I might assign Italiano a value similar to Rowdy Hardy’s prior to the season.

Rumors are that the Player To Be Named Later will be "significant" in this deal, so it makes it even harder to evaluate, but the Padres certainly got more out this deal than the Pirates did out of the Hinske trade.

So, where does Mark Teahen fit into these scenarios?   Let’s compare the career lines of the players:

DeRosa (34)—.279/.348/.422

Hinske (31)—.254/.337/.436

Hairston (29)—.257/.314/.470

Teahen (27)—.268/.332/.421

Looking at those numbers and, most importantly, the age of each player certainly gives Royals’ fans some hope that should Dayton Moore decide to pull the trigger on a Teahen trade that they might net more in return than any of the other three players.  

Sure, DeRosa is the better player right now, but he is seven years old and more expensive than Teahen. He brought a major league reliever with upside and either another major league ready reliever or a power arm with a boatload of potential in return. Given that, would it be completely unrealistic to expect a nearly major league ready position player in return for Mark?

Perhaps that is wishful thinking, perhaps it is not. This time next month, we will know for sure.

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