The Mariners have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent infielder Gordon Beckham, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Beckham, who was released by the Giants last week, is represented by CAA Baseball.
The 30-year-old Beckham has struggled considerably at the plate over the past three big league seasons, hitting a collective .218/.278/.344 in 999 plate appearances between the White Sox, Braves and Giants. He inked a minor league deal to return to San Francisco this offseason, but his fortunes didn’t turn in Spring Training, as he slashed a lackluster .194/.268/.250 in camp with the Giants. That level of output placed him firmly behind fellow veteran Aaron Hill (who took a $100K retention bonus to stay in San Francisco) and offseason signee Jae-gyun Hwang, who is also in camp on a minors deal.
Seattle figures to send Beckham to Triple-A Tacoma, where he can serve as an insurance policy at a number of positions and could eventually surface as a bench option. The Mariners’ infield is set with Kyle Seager at third base, Jean Segura at shortstop and Robinson Cano at second base, Danny Valencia at first base and Taylor Motter on the bench as a super utility option. But, Beckham could conceivably bounce around the infield should injuries arise at the Major League level.
Yet another washed up has-been to stock the Seattle minors with.It has to be discouraging for the younger players in the farm system.
Not really. If a young player has talent they’ll get playing time and be called up. If they don’t, they won’t. It’s as simple as that.
Maybe you can tell us what young infield phenom that Beckham will be blocking.
As I totally agree with you. We do have Tyler smith who’s been killing it, mike freeman deserves an actual shot, and he’s definitely got no where at first base with vogelbach, even in the minors. More so I don’t see him taking up much time at all really
I hope he does well enough at Tacoma to earn his way up to the parent club. I enjoyed watching him in Chicago. He is a solid and versatile infielder who plays the game the right way. His problem has been declining offensive production, and that, of course, means he had limited at-bats in the last few years in the majors. This may be his last chance, and I hope he makes the most of it.