10 Photos - Tea Time & A Few Laffs

Saturday, February 18 2012 @ 11:20 AM EST

Contributed by: #2JBrumfield

Today's POTD looks at a former Jay with Canadian roots and a lefty looking to land a spot in Toronto in 2012.

Mark Teahen was taken by the Oakland A's in the infamous Moneyball draft of 2002 as he went 39th overall out of St. Mary's College in California.  Ironically, his father was born in St. Marys, Ontario - the home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.  Teahen is a Canadian citizen.

Teahen, a native of Redlands, California, was traded to Kansas City in June of 2004 as part of a three-team deal that saw outfielder Carlos Beltran go to Houston, future Jays reliever Octavio Dotel sent to Oakland and future Jays catcher John Buck went to K.C.  It would not be the last time Teahen would be involved in a deal with Dotel.

Teahen's first major league hit came in the form of an RBI triple against Mike Maroth at Comerica Park April 6, 2005.  His first home run was against St. Louis' Matt Morris at Kauffman Stadium May 21.  Note that the pitcher's initials in both cases are M.M.  Another appropriation of astute analysis only found here at Batter's Box.

Out of Teahen's five seasons in Kansas City, 2006 was his best as he hit 18 home runs and slugged .517.  The left-handed hitting Teahen clubbed 59 homers as a Royal before being dealt to the Chicago White Sox for infielders Chris Getz and Josh Fields in December, 2009.

Teahen came to Toronto as part of last year's Colby Rasmus trade but hit just .190 in 27 games with the Jays.  A career .264 hitter, the 30 year-old recently signed a minor league deal with Washington.


Aaron Laffey was a 16th round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2003 and made his big league debut August 4, 2007.  He took the loss that day in Minnesota but earned his first major league win five days later in Chicago against the White Sox.

The 6-foot lefty went 4-2 with a 4.56 earned run average to help the Tribe clinch the American League Central Division title in 2007.  He pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against Boston.

Laffey spent four seasons in Cleveland, going 18-21 with a 4.41 ERA.  The 2010 season saw him move from the rotation to the bullpen.  Laffey was traded to Seattle last March for utility player Matt Lawson and cash.

After going 1-1 with a 4.01 ERA with the Mariners to begin 2011, Laffey was claimed off waivers by the Yankees and posted a 2-1 record with an ERA of 3.38. 

The 26 year-old Cumberland, Maryland native was picked up on the waiver wire by Kansas City back in October before signing with the Blue Jays on December 30.  He will turn 27 on April 15.

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