Looking for trades in unloving places

Dayton Moore is running up the long distance phone bill at Kauffman already this offseason. News broke over the past couple of days about the Royals in 'serious' discussions with not only the Florida Marlins about first baseman Mike Jacobs (I'll have another post on this), but also with the Cleveland Indians in a deal that would send Mark Teahen to the Central division foes.

I just don't really know what we would accomplish by sending Teahen to Cleveland unless it's for Ben Francisco. All the Indians targets that we would receive are suspect hitters themselves. Francisco is probably the best hitter of the group. As a rookie this year he hit .266 with 15 homers, 32 doubles, and 52 RBI. That's the guy I'm demanding if I'm Dayton Moore, but still, you don't know what the kid will be. His hitting was hampered by the fact he hit nearly the entire year in the three hole as a rookie due to injuries.

He was as out of water as when Mark Grudzielanek was hitting in the three-hole earlier this year.

I wouldn't trade Teahen for Franklin Gutierrez. He hit just .248 with 26 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 41 RBI and, like Teahen, is 27 years old. He is a great defensive outfielder but does very little with the bat.

Doesn't Teahen already do this? That's the thing for me. Why do we want to trade left handed hitting Mark Teahen for right handed hitting Mark Teahen?

Also in the mix is minor league outfielder Trevor Crowe - the Indians' switch-hitting 2005 first round draft pick. He hit just nine dingers between AA and AAA this year, though his average was above .300. He would be a good player to get.

All three of the mentioned players play center field. If a deal is done Royals insiders say David DeJesus would move to left field immediately. Probably a good move.

By the way, Indians fans aren't happy about this at all. Apparently, very few of them like Teahen and are beginning to sound like angry Chiefs fans. Read what they have to say here.