Royals send Teahen to Omaha

CHICAGO -- Royals third baseman Mark Teahen was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on Friday and pitcher Joe Mays might not be far behind.

General manager Allard Baird announced the moves before Friday night's game against the Chicago White Sox.

Teahen, batting just .195, was shipped out to work on his hitting. Mays (0-4, 10.27 ERA) was asked to accept an option as well. However, because of Mays' veteran status, he has three days to accept the assignment.

Outfielder Aaron Guiel was called up to replace Teahen on the roster and started the game in right field, filling in for the injured Reggie Sanders.

Teahen, 24, was with the Royals all last season and batted .246 as a rookie with seven homers and 55 RBIs. He hit .303 in the last month of the year but started slowly this season and was 15-for-77 with two homers and nine RBIs.

Esteban German, who had a .458 average (11-for-24) as a backup player, will take over at third base.

Although Teahen had five errors, Baird gave a thumbs-up to his defense. But work on his batting technique is needed, he said.

"He needs to stay short to the ball and use the big part of the ballpark," Baird said.

The Royals will not bring up hot prospect Alex Gordon, KC's first-round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, who was batting .330 with six homers and 13 RBIs as Double-A Wichita's third baseman.

"As of right now, no," Baird said.

Guiel, 33, had a slow start for Omaha but departed with a .262 average, seven homers and 22 RBIs in 25 games. He also walked 21 times for an on-base percentage of .420.

"I stopped feeling sorry for myself," Guiel explained.

Mays, in six starts, had gone past the five-inning mark just once. He gave up 33 runs (27 earned) in 23 2/3 innings. His command has been off the mark.

"He shows good sink on his pitches at times. He shows flashes of it," Baird said. "It's tough to work on that at the Major League level."

The Royals have not yet announced who will start in Mays' spot on Monday night against the Cleveland Indians.

Sanders, who suffered tightness in his left hamstring on Thursday night in Minneapolis, is not likely to go on the disabled list. But he was held out of the starting lineup on Friday night.