ESPN Buster Olney Blog

Mark Teahen's transition to second base began on a Little League field in Peoria, Ariz., in December. He went there with his brother and girlfriend to take grounders, and really, it would've made no difference, as he got his work in that day whether he was standing at third base or at second base.

But Teahen had thought about the way the Royals' roster was shaping up in the aftermath of Kansas City's trade for Coco Crisp, and recognized that he was probably going to be bumped out of a starting spot in the outfield. So he decided that maybe it was in his best interests to start thinking about playing some second base. So that day, when his brother started hitting him grounders, he jogged in that direction.

A few weeks later, he went to Texas along with some other Royals to get some work in with manager Trey Hillman. There, Hillman approached him with a thought: You might get some work in at second base.

That is where Teahen has played the most in what has been an outstanding spring training for him. It's also been a great spring for the Royals. "I feel like I could handle [second base], the way that I feel right now," he said Tuesday evening.

He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the position coming in. Like most talented right-handed amateurs, Teahen had played shortstop in high school, but in his first year in college he also played second. He believes that brief time has helped him; he is accustomed to seeing the ball come off the bat from that side of the field.

The toughest play for a new second baseman, he was told, is the turn of the double play, making a throw with a baserunner bearing down. But he has felt comfortable in doing that, and at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, Teahen does have something of an advantage over other second basemen: If a runner plows into him, he can be as sturdy as a fire hydrant.

The most natural play during this transition is the pursuit of grounders hit to his left, into the first-base hole. That's because Teahen also played third base for years and is accustomed to fielding in that direction. The play on which the timing feels most different for him is on balls hit to his right. As a third baseman, Teahen didn't have that much time to make plays toward the line -- it was maybe one step and a backhand and a throw -- but in the middle of the infield there is more room to range, an extra step to be taken. "I think I'm hard on myself," Teahen said. "I want to have a little more fine-tuning."

The work he has been doing at second base has not interfered with his hitting. Kevin Seitzer, the Royals' new hitting coach, has been talking with the K.C. hitters about using the whole field, about taking the ball the other way and up the middle, and Teahen believes this philosophy more closely fits what he does at the plate. Through Tuesday's games, Teahen is hitting .468 with a .979 slugging percentage in spring ball.

Teahen feels the optimism that has been pervasive in the Royals' camp. He sees the improvement in Alex Gordon and in Kyle Davies. He sees the same potential in the team that rival scouts have noted. "This is the first year I'm leaving camp thinking that we should be in contention," Teahen said.

• It appears that Sidney Ponson has won a spot in the Royals' rotation, with Horacio Ramirez likely to open the year in the bullpen. John Buck was dinged up Tuesday, as mentioned within this notebook.

• Jim Leyland doesn't have a contract for 2010, which is a polite way for the organization to tell him that he must win in 2009. Keep this in mind as you watch the Tigers take shape: They are not messing around, and undoubtedly, Leyland has something to do with that. If he's being asked to prove himself in 2009 all over again, he's going to want to start the season with his best 25 guys -- and apparently, Gary Sheffield was no longer one of his best 25 guys.

And Sheff couldn't be one of the best 25 guys at a time when the Tigers already have another DH type in Marcus Thames. Given the $14 million that the Tigers owed to Sheffield for this season, it would have been very easy for them to just store him in a corner of their roster for awhile, while risking a Sheff blowup or two, to save the embarrassment of eating such a big contract.

But for the sake of the team, for the sake of Leyland -- who deserves a fair shot to win with his best 25 guys this year -- they made a quick and tough decision. They deserve credit for that.

The release of Sheffield is proof that the Tigers want a more multidimensional team, writes Tom Gage. The Tigers' drama is just getting started, writes Lynn Henning.

• Rick Porcello had another strong outing and may well make the Tigers as their No. 5 starter.

• Just when you thought the Angels' pitching had been ravaged enough by injury, there is this from Mike DiGiovanna: Joe Saunders is coping with a dead arm. No wonder the Angels have dispatched a scout to go see the Reds' Aaron Harang make his next spring start.

• And the Athletics are having all kinds of problems, too: Joey Devine is going to see Dr. James Andrews, Susan Slusser writes. Brad Ziegler appears to be the front-runner to be Oakland's closer.

• Heard this: In the aftermath of the Tigers' decision to place Dontrelle Willis on the disabled list for anxiety, there were a lot of folks with other teams speaking on background about the possibility for roster abuse under similar circumstances. "I hope Major League Baseball followed up on that and got specific documentation, because you could conceivably tuck away a lot of players for anxiety," a rival general manager said. "Hell, one of my pitchers is anxious about facing Albert Pujols -- if I get a doctor to say it, can I put him on the disabled list?"

MLB will follow up more frequently on a diagnosis for anxiety, according to one source, and did in this case. But the Tigers' team doctor certified the diagnosis, and as one official says, "Baseball does tend to give the benefit of the doubt because of the nature of it. You'd hate to challenge a team on a diagnosis like that and turn out to be wrong."

MLB will continue to track Willis and other players given similar diagnoses in an attempt to ensure that teams don't use them to tuck away players on the DL. "It's not as cut-and-dried in the way that a pulled hamstring is," one official said.

• Some more spring training thoughts from talent evaluators:

The rest of Buster's blog -- stories on which players are fighting for jobs, news on the latest moves and deals and which pitchers are rounding into form, among tons more -- is available exclusively to ESPN Insiders.