Minnesota Twins Teufel spent all of and with the Double-A
Orlando Twins. He raised his average to .282 in , earning a mid-season promotion to the Triple-A
Toledo Mud Hens. In , Teufel lit up the
International League with a .323
batting average, 1.022
OPS, 27 home runs and 100 runs batted in, resulting in a September call-up to the majors. He made his major league debut on September 3 in a 13-0 drubbing at the hands of
Scott McGregor and the
Baltimore Orioles. Teufel went 2-for-4 and score two runs to help the last-place Twins snap a five-game losing streak on September 6. On September 16, Teufel led off the game by hitting his first major league home run off
Jim Gott of the
Toronto Blue Jays. His second career home run came in the eighth inning of the same game. In all, Teufel went 5-for-5 with two home runs and five runs scored in arguably the best offensive game of his career. By the end of the season, the Twins surpassed the
Seattle Mariners to avoid a last-place finish. The following season, Teufel snatched the starting second base job away from former
Rookie of the Year,
John Castino. In his
rookie season, Teufel had 149
hits, 30
doubles, fourteen home runs, 61 runs batted in, and provided solid defense at second base for the Twins. The Twins improved to 81–81 in , which was good enough for a second-place finish in the
American League West. Teufel finished fourth behind
Alvin Davis,
Mark Langston and teammate
Kirby Puckett in
American League Rookie of the Year balloting. The Twins fell back into fifth place in . Following the season, Teufel was traded with minor leaguer Pat Crosby to the New York Mets for
Billy Beane,
Bill Latham and
Joe Klink.
New York Mets Although Teufel had hit far better against
right-handed pitchers in 1985, Mets
manager Davey Johnson used Teufel primarily against
left-handed pitching in a
platoon system with
Wally Backman. Teufel started quickly in with a go-ahead 14th inning
single in his first game with the Mets, although they lost in the bottom half of the inning. His batting average hovered around .220 into June. On June 10, Teufel had one of the most exciting moments in the Mets' championship season with a
walk-off pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning against the
Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets' reputation as a rowdy bunch was punctuated on July 19 when Teufel,
Ron Darling,
Bob Ojeda, and
Rick Aguilera were arrested after a bar fight with off-duty police officers in
Houston, Texas. Teufel was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $200 for his part. None of the four missed any playing time, though the incident helped fuel some rivalry between the Mets and their impending
1986 National League Championship Series competitors, the
Houston Astros. Teufel managed just one hit and no runs batted in against the Astros in the Championship Series, won by the Mets in six games. In game one of the 1986 World Series against the
Boston Red Sox, the Mets suffered a fate similar to that which they suffered in game one of the World Series against the
Oakland Athletics. In that game, usually sure-handed Mets' second baseman
Félix Millán committed a third
inning error that led to both of Oakland's runs in their 2–1 victory. With one out and a runner on second in the seventh inning of game one of the 1986 series, Boston's
Rich Gedman hit a ground ball to Teufel at second which Teufel misplayed, allowing the runner to score. Boston held on for the 1–0 victory. He hit a home run in game five of the Series, but the Mets lost that game. For the series, Teufel batted .444 with four hits in nine at bats. The home run was the only postseason run batted in and run scored of Teufel's career. was Teufel's best season statistically, as he tied his 1984 home run and run batted in highs despite playing in only 97 games. His .308 batting average, .398
on-base percentage and .545
slugging percentage were career-highs. Despite significantly outperforming Wally Backman, Teufel continued to be used in a platoon role. He was given the chance to play every day in , but spent all of April below .200 and missed three weeks from mid-May with an injury, causing the platoon to be reinstated. Teufel was used in just one game in the
1988 NLCS. In ,
Gregg Jefferies was given most of the time at second base and Teufel spent half of his time at
first base. His playing time further decreased in as he played in career-lows of 80 games with 175 at-bats while shifting between first, second and
third base.
San Diego Padres Teufel's average was .118 on May 31 when the Mets traded him to the
San Diego Padres for
Garry Templeton. Teufel hit between .220 and .250 in all three seasons with San Diego while continuing to play at all three bases defensively. On April 14, , he went 5-for-5 for the second time in his career but the Padres lost the game on their way to a 101-loss season. Teufel was granted
free agency and retired after the 1993 season. ==Coaching career==