I expected a lot from Gordon Beckham(notes) in 2010. I projected him optimistically in Yahoo’s Fantasy Baseball Annual, I ranked him favorably in our position rundowns in March, and I traded what I thought was a fair amount (Chone Figgins(notes)) to get Beckham from Andy Behrens a month ago in our Friends and Family League.
But expectations and leashes don’t extend forever. Starting this weekend, Beckham is someone else’s problem. I’ve cut ties with the disappointing sophomore and I’m not looking back.
The White Sox had a rare offensive outburst Friday night, springing for eight runs and 12 hits in a laugher over the Marlins. Beckham wasn’t in on the fun; he went 0-for-3 from the ninth spot in the order, the only Chicago batter with an empty line.
Beckham’s .182 average only tells part of the horror story. Even with a handful of walks he’s got a mediocre .285 OBP, and that embarrassing .234 slugging percentage doesn’t feed the cat. He got just one extra base hit over the last month. He’s been benched twice, moved down in the lineup – nothing seems to help. Sure, he’s been unlucky on balls in play (.233), but with a puny 13.3 line-drive rate, it’s not like he’s getting robbed left and right. He’s also striking out 23 percent of the time.
I didn’t hastily make the decision to cut Beckham, of course – I spent a few days trying to trade him. Some owners had reasons why they couldn’t make a trade now. Others flat-out admitted they wanted no part of Beckham. One good friend of mine made what seemed like an offer, but it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously (that, or I said "yes" too quickly). Maybe my opponents realized that if they waited me out, they could get Beckham for the low, low price of "waiver priority" by the end of the week.
You have to be aggressive to win any kind of a competitive mixed league, and when you’re dealing with short benches (we only have three reserve spots) you have to be willing to make tough decisions on name players. I’m not going to be paralyzed by worry or concern when I think it’s time to cut the cord on a player. I’m not playing for the "friendliest loss" here. The waiver wire always has interesting options in the F&F pool, and the timing felt right to liberate myself from a struggling player.
I realize not everyone shares the same mindset when it comes to slumping brand names. Some owners are petrified of the idea that today’s cut could go on to be someone else’s star tomorrow. Some experts don’t want to do anything controversial; you don’t see a lot of trading in most industry leagues.
But as I see it, if you want a good omelette, you need to break some eggs. And there comes a time where you have to admit you were probably wrong with your preseason projection; I’m not going to stay married to my early expectations when new information or data presents itself. And it’s not like Beckham is a 10-year veteran off to a poor start; for all of his press clippings and with all due respect to his pedigree, he’s only had 515 at-bats in the show. And he’s certainly not the first second-year player to lose his way after a snappy first season.
Gordon Beckham, it’s time to make outs for someone else. Don’t come calling for a playoff share in October.
There’s our lede (or lead) item for Friday; please give your Beckham thoughts in the comments. I’ll be back in an hour or so with another 700-900 words, discussing the weekend baseball landscape.