TREY HILLMAN

Former Royal Teahen wishes Hillman well

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By Dick Kaegel, Robert Falkoff and Samuel Zuba / MLB.com

05/14/10 8:16 PM ET

* No need to panic for Royals
* Yost puts focus on lineup

KANSAS CITY -- Mark Teahen ran smack into a flurry of media activity as he made his return to Kauffman Stadium.

The ballpark that Teahen called home the previous five seasons was buzzing on Friday in the aftermath of the news that Trey Hillman was out and Ned Yost was in as the manager of the Royals. For Teahen, who played for Hillman in 2008 and '09, the news was sobering if not completely surprising.

"It's unfortunate," Teahen said. "Trey's a great guy. I'm sure he'll land on his feet. Strange that it happened while I'm in town. I wish him the best."

The Royals went 75-87 and 65-97 in Teahen's two seasons under Hillman. The White Sox third baseman has stayed in touch with some of his ex-teammates and had a feel for the frustration that had been growing in Kansas City after an 11-23 start this year.

"They were aware they hadn't been performing up to expectations and a lot of times the manager has to take the fall for that," Teahen said.

Besides the unsettling news about his former manager, Teahen's first regular-season trip back to Kansas City has been a pleasant one. He had the opportunity to dine with friends at the Capital Grille on Thursday night, and then rose bright and early on Friday to take Rachel Wait to her first-grade class in nearby Liberty.

"It was in fulfillment of what her parents bought at my charity auction in January," Teahen said.

While visiting with some familiar Kansas City reporters, Teahen also talked about setting a wedding date with fiancee Lauren McClain.

"It's going to be on Dec. 31 -- New Year's Eve -- so we'll make it a full night," Teahen said.

Asked what type of reception he was anticipating for his first plate appearance back at Kauffman as a visiting player, Teahen provided a touch of the deadpan humor he was known for as a Royal.

Teahen joked that he anticipated about a 15-minute delay "to let the cheers die down."

Humor aside, Teahen offered a more realistic expectation.

"Hopefully, there will be more cheers than boos," he said.

-- Robert Falkoff
No need to panic for Royals

KANSAS CITY -- Center fielder Mitch Maier knows it's a long season. There are still 92 games left in the regular season, and it is certainly not time to panic -- not yet, at least.

"It's still early," Maier said sitting in front of his locker before Friday night's contest against the Chicago White Sox. "We can get on a run and be back in the swing of things in a hurry."

The Royals, 12-23, have lost seven of their last eight and find themselves in last place in the American League Central, 10 1/2 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins.

Maier isn't concerned with the team's record and believes they have what it takes to contend in the Central, they just need to go out and get it done.

"I think ultimately as players, we know that we are capable of performing a lot better than we have," Maier said. "It's a matter of going out and doing that, and getting some wins."

-- Samuel Zuba
Yost puts focus on lineup

KANSAS CITY -- What's the first thing a manager does when he gets hired? If it's the Royals' Ned Yost, he starts doodling with possible lineups.

Yost was evaluating the Royals' Double-A club, Northwest Arkansas, at Springfield, Mo., when general manager Dayton Moore called on Thursday morning and he accepted the job.

"From that point on, it was just starting to think about different lineups, starting to think about the team, starting to think about things that would make us better," Yost said.

He spent Thursday night at a hotel at Springfield, Mo., and pondered lineups and personnel and things he might do, staying up until about 3 a.m. Then he got up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday to drive to Kansas City to take over.

His first lineup against the White Sox wasn't much different from Trey Hillman's last lineup against the Indians. The only change was putting Jason Kendall behind the plate instead of backup Brayan Pena and rearranging the last three spots in the batting order.

After all, that last Hillman lineup was a winner, 6-4, ending a seven-game losing streak.

-- Dick Kaegel

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com, Samuel Zuba is an associate reporter for MLB.com, Robert Falkoff is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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