Mark Teahen

Mark Teahen
Toronto Blue Jays — No. 20
Third baseman
Born: September 6, 1981 (1981-09-06) (age 30) Redlands, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 4, 2005 for the Kansas City Royals
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Batting average	.264
Home runs	67
RBIs	332
Teams
Kansas City Royals (2005-2009) Chicago White Sox (2010-2011) Toronto Blue Jays (2011–present)

Teahen with the Kansas City Royals in 2009.

Mark Thomas Teahen (born September 6, 1981, in Redlands, California) is an American-Canadian professional baseball infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball.

He graduated from Yucaipa High School in 1999 and attended St. Mary's College in California. Teahen was drafted 39th overall in the 2002 draft by the Oakland Athletics with a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds. Teahen was one of the featured players in the book Moneyball, which claimed that Teahen had the potential to become the next Jason Giambi.

Prior to the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Teahen, whose father was born in St. Marys, Ontario, became a naturalized Canadian citizen and played for Team Canada in that event. In 2011, Teahen and Brett Lawrie both started in the infield for the Blue Jays, marking the first time the squad had two Canadians in its starting lineup.^[1]

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

Oakland traded him to Kansas City in 2004, along with Mike Wood, as part of a three-way trade that sent Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros, Octavio Dotel from the Astros to the Athletics, and John Buck from the Astros to the Royals. Although he had been one of the most highly regarded prospects in the Oakland organization, he became available when the Athletics were able to sign Eric Chavez to a long-term contract.

Royals management did not expect Teahen to make the opening-day roster in 2005; however, after hitting .344 in spring training and after injuries sidelined potential third basemen Chris Truby and Chris Clapinski, the Royals announced Teahen would be their regular third baseman for 2005, and he made his major-league debut on April 4, 2005.

His first hit was a triple and he hit 4 homers in his last 17 games of 2005. Teahen hit .240 in his rookie season with KC. He had the lowest fielding percentage of all third basemen in the league, .947, and the lowest zone rating of all major league third basemen (.706).

In 2006, he hit .290 with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs. During July, he raised his performance level with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs during the 38 games ending August 2. He continued to hit well, but suffered an injury and had to have season-ending surgery on September 8.

Going into the 2007 season, Teahen moved from third base to right field because of the arrival of young prospect Alex Gordon.^[2] His HR total dropped alarmingly to only 7 homers, after hitting 18 the year prior. During the 2008 season, he hit two inside-the-park home runs (leading the majors), bringing his total for 2008 to 14 HRs.^[3][4]

While in Kansas City, Teahen was a spokesman and fundraiser for a program that gave children with physical or mental challenges the chance to play baseball. Since Teahen obtained dual Canadian-American citizenship in 2005,^[5] he was able to play for the Canadian team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.^[6] In 2009, he hit .271 with a career-high 34 doubles, 12 home runs and 50 RBI in 144 games with Kansas City. He made 99 starts at third base, 31 in right field and three at second.

Chicago White Sox

On November 5, 2009, Teahen was traded by the Royals to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielders Chris Getz and Josh Fields.^[7] He later received the 2009 Hutch Award for his efforts on and off the field.^[8]

On December 8, Teahen and the White Sox agreed to a three-year, $14 million deal.^[9] Under the terms, Teahen will receive $3.75 million in 2010, $4.75 million in 2011 and $5.5 million in 2012. He will be eligible for free agency following the 2012 season.

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 27, 2011, Teahen was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays with Edwin Jackson for Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart.^[10]

Personal life

Mark is married (Lauren) and has two dogs, Espy and Ribi. Espy has an account on Twitter.^[11]

References

1. ^ Fitzgerald, Sean. "Jays’ Lawrie ruled out for Pan Am Games". Montreal Gazette. http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Jays+Lawrie+ruled+Games/5258651/story.html#ixzz1VDIgTVeQ. Retrieved 16 August 2011. 
2. ^ "Mark Teahen: Fantasy Baseball". USA Today. http://fantasybaseball.usatoday.com/content/player_news.asp?sport=MLB&id=1155&line=206407. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
3. ^ USA Today. http://fantasysports.usatoday.com/content/player_news.asp?sport=mlb&id=1155&line=247659. 
4. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2008-situational-batting.shtml
5. ^ Hornby, Lance (2005-05-11). "A closet Canuck". http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/Canada/2005/05/11/1034954.html. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
6. ^ http://www.tsn.ca/ctvnews/?id=263921
7. ^ Merkin, Scott. White Sox acquire Teahen from Royals, Chicago White Sox. Published November 6, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
8. ^ Kaegel, Dick. Teahen tabbed for Hutch Award, Chicago White Sox. Published November 30, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
9. ^ Sox, Teahen agree to three-year deal, Daily Herald. Published December 8, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
10. ^ Nowak, Joey. "White Sox send Jackson to Blue Jays for Frasor". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110727&content_id=22367388&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
11. ^ Twitter - ESPY_TEAHEN twitter.com

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Recap of 8/2/06 game in which Teahen went 3 for 5 including a home run and his performance scrutinized a bit more
• Column by Yahoo! Sports columnist primarily about Teahen

Persondata
Name	Teahen, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 6, 1981
Place of birth	Redlands, California
Date of death
Place of death