The Rays and Orioles slipped a small-scale, last-minute move in just prior to Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, with infielder Tim Beckham heading from Tampa to Baltimore in exchange for minor league right-hander Tobias Myers. Both teams have announced the deal.
Beckham, 27, was the first overall pick of the 2008 draft but has yet to live up to that billing. He has, however, provided nearly league-average offense in a somewhat limited role with the Rays over the past three seasons, hitting a combined .245/.299/.421 with 26 homers in 783 plate appearances (96 OPS+).
After narrowly qualifying as a Super Two player this past offseason, Beckham agreed to a one-year deal worth $885K with the Rays to avoid arbitration for the first time. The O’s will now control him for another three seasons via that arbitration process, should they see fit.
[Related: Updated Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles depth charts]
With J.J. Hardy on the shelf and a lack of quality internal options to replace him, Beckham will likely step into semi-regular playing time at shortstop with Baltimore — an opportunity that was not present for him with the Rays. Barring a huge surge in production over the season’s final two months, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be a consideration for the regular job next season, but Beckham does have experience at multiple infield positions and could be a utility piece for the O’s moving forward.
Myers, who turns 19 later this week, was the Orioles’ sixth-round pick just last year. He’s currently pitching against older competition in short-season Class-A and holding his own, with a 3.94 ERA and an excellent 35-to-6 K/BB ratio through 29 2/3 innings.
Tampa Bay’s acquisition of Lucas Duda pushed Brad Miller to shortstop, leaving Duda and Logan Morrison to share time at first base and DH. With midseason pickups Trevor Plouffe and Adeiny Hechavarrria both also in the mix for the Rays, Beckham’s path to playing time was cloudier than ever, which likely accelerated the Rays’ efforts to facilitate a move. While Myers won’t slot in near the team’s top-ranked prospects, he gives the Rays a fairly low-level lottery ticket with encouraging K/BB numbers — a reasonable return for a player likely viewed to have a limited ceiling at this point.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the agreement and the Rays’ return (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jesus Christ. The orioles go the wrong way again. We’re making one more run it’s pretty obvious
We’re talking about an Oriole’s minor league pitcher. There’s very little fruit in that basket.
Clearly you’re very familiar with the organization–NOT!
Wow, it’s 1992 all over again with the NOT jokes.
The Orioles suck at developing pitchers. No need to get so riled up about it
I’m a “PSYCH” guy myself.
^^
Exactly right you’re going to give the one piece we may have down there for tim Beckham. It’s the exact opposite of what we need to do.
Roster filler while Hardy and Flaherty are out. Could be next year’s utility infielder.
He’s probably our starting shortstop next year. Flaherty and hardy are on expiring contracts and neither one of them is a capable big league SS. We didn’t give anything up so it’s alright I was just looking for the orioles to sell
Making a run? At what, last place??
Hahahahhahahahaha making a run at last place??? That’s real funny, chief. It’s not the right move but it’s obviously the direction. Angelos is an old man now I don’t think he has another rebuild in him so these are the cards all of us orioles fans have been dealt
how you like that deal now?
but you cant make the run lol
There’s very little fruit in Beckham either. A first round bust.
They said that about Arietta.
Arietta was a 5th round pick, therefore cannot be a first round bust.
Just making the big leagues makes you NOT a bust. Has he disappointed? Yes, of course. This was not the expected value of an overall #1 pick. But there are far more first rounders that never even get out of AA that deserve the bust label far more.
He is a bust for what should be expected out of a no. 1 pick though.
Plus with a change of scenery and some regular playing time, and not much pressure…. who knows? He may break out.
what are the orioles doing?
Shaking my head
Why? Where is he going to play?
He’s going to play SS we don’t have one. He’s as good if not a little better than what we have and we actually didn’t give anything up so it’s not the end of the world. I don’t like tim Beckham but it’s an okay deal because he’s better than Ruben tejada who would have been our starting SS next year. I don’t like it but we didn’t hurt ourselves
Beckham wasn’t happy with moving over for Hechavarria and coulda been a negative clubhouse presence because of it and the O’s weren’t happy enough with Tejada at short. Makes sense for both teams, Beckham is their SS of the future now
I actually like this move for the Orioles. This isn’t some over the hill veteran, it’s a still pretty young guy with a little bit of upside who can play short (even if it isn’t pretty). Plus it seems like they barely gave up anything to get him.
Dan is stupid.
” we need pitching… I know! I’ll go out and get a superfluous shortstop!”
What a dumbass
Well we do need a short stop as well. There are zero good SS in the orioles organizations but the argument can be made that we still have zero good SS w beckham.
Probably more like this:
Angelos: “Hey, Dan. Go get us a shortstop for the stretch run.”
DD: “Really, boss?”
Angelos: “Yeah, Dan. Trade for the best you can get with Tobias Myers.”
DD (sighs): “OK, I’ll see what I can do…”
Tells me that Hardy is not close to getting back. Hardy has become a shell of his former self, but Buck loves him and would put him back out there in a heartbeat. Beckham is controllable for 4 more years, is better offensively than Hardy (although I may be better offensively than Hardy), and is at least an average defender at SS. Goodbye, Ruben Tejada.
I don’t mind this trade at all, Beckham is a decent ball player who still has some potential. Wish we got some pitching as well but SS was a pretty big weakness
If Buck can get Beckhams head in the game at all times he may help but his continuous mental mistakes showed him the door. Cash couldn’t help maybe Buck can. As a Rays fan I say good luck and good riddance.
Very true, but I think Buck and some of the veterans like Jones, Davis, Hardy can help with that. They did with Machado when he had his attitude problems
I agree – from what I’ve seen beck was turning it around…he seemed to be applying himself more and playing hard. a ss with control until 2021 with decent pop is not bad for a minor league pitcher…I personally don’t think Beckham has reached his full potential but now that he’ll have an everyday gig at his natural position, who knows? that said, the rumors about clubhouse issues can be troubling but I think Showalter can straighten him out if necessary. for what was paid I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised.
Why……
Tim Beckman ?
Wrong Beckman.
Should’ve been David, Victoria, or Odell.
A real zinger
Only slightly funnier when you spell “Beckham” correctly.
It was a little amusing except you ruined it by saying “Beckman.”
panicked.
Beckham was way better as a soccer player.
At baseball, he’s awful.
Kinda my point.
How could any of you O’s fans not absolutely LOVE this deal? Rays are giving up controllable, young, talented SS for some no nothing 18 year old who isn’t even in the top 30 of one of the worst farms in all of Baseball…
That is unless the autor forgot to include Britton or Braach is coming our way!
The prospect wasn’t given at first. No issues with the deal as it stands
LOVE IT
How did TB not also get international slot money from BAL??
I’m forever grateful the Rays passed on Posey for this kid.
Not to mention Eric Hosmer and Pedro Alvarez (yeah he sucks, but he led the league in homers once), both of whom have had better careers thus far.
Not a terrible trade.. The Orioles get an instant upgrade over Tejada that’s young, has some pop, and is under team control for years to come at a reasonable rate. They traded an unheralded single A prospect. Most fans wanted to see them sell, but if the price isn’t right there is no reason to force it. They still have a chance to make a run, especially with teams like the Twins in front of them having a fire sale. They probably won’t make the playoffs, but guys like Britton, Brach, Machado etc. are still under control through next year and can be traded then or in the winter if things don’t work out.
As a Rays fan, I don’t like this at all. Multiple years of a 2 win SS or 1.5 win utility IF is worth a lot more than a 40/45 FV RHP in low A.
Yeah, this return is beyond ridiculous. Seriously feels like this is not real based on how pathetic the return is for 3 more years of cheap 2-3 WAR MIF. Rays FO (up to this point) has done a really solid job IMO…however this might be the worst trade i have ever seen them make. It’s beyond puzzling….best guess is either Duffy is actually going to play this year, or Bex went nuclear during the NYY series and pissed off his team and mgmt .I just cant believe we couldn’t have gotten an equally sad return from a NON-division rival????
no kidding. a head scratcha
I wouldn’t doubt that he’s been an internal clubhouse problem too. The Rays didn’t need him. Wonder how long until the first base running blunder. I’m guessing 4 games.
2-3 war overall or per season? Cause he’s been good for 1.3 WAR this year with a .357 babip. anything more than 1 WAR a year would be a little on the high side I don’t think he’s going to be able to sustain that babip and there is no way he’s going to learn any plate discipline playing for the free swinging orioles.
Since the beginning of last season, Beckham has 560 PA over 151 games and has accumulated 2.6 rWAR and 2.4 fWAR. Calling him a 2-3 WAR player over a full season doesn’t seem so egregious when that is exactly what he has shown himself to be the last few years.
3 more years of arb eligible, wasted salary for a guy who will be at best the 4th best middle infielder on the roster in spring training? Remember, the Rays have a fixed income and that 15 or 20 mil that Beckham will make over the next 3 years can be much better spent elsewhere.
The fact that a very competent front office like the Rays was willing to trade him within the division for a prospect in low A ball, should tell u how much they actually think of Beckham. It wasn’t an accident that they sent him to Baltimore, they just have very lil fear of him suddenly becoming a worthwhile player. Not to mention, the pitcher they got in return is a local kid they’re prolly very familiar with. His K rate is impressive and knowing that the Rays have been the best in the business at scouting and developing pitching talent in the last 10 years, there’s a decent chance this trade works out in our favor.
The O’s absolutely fleeced the Rays here. They not only got a major league contributor for nothing, they did so at the expense of a division rival. Miller’s cement glove will also help the O’s.
True, but the only thing this will help is the O’s chances to beat out the Jays for 4th place in ALE.
Ugh
Another year, another deadline flop by the O’s. Hellickson and Beckham? Why? They have 0 chance of making the playoffs – and even if it happened where are they going with that pitching staff? Why not try to get some good prospects for the farm system? Very hard to keep pulling for this team.
I’m in the minority here, but Beckham was doing pretty good until he injured his oblique or something a week or two b4 the asb. Since coming back he hasn’t done much (one 3R HR while his avg dropped from the 270s to the 240s) but prior to the injury you could squint and roughly see him keeping pace with Jonathan Schoop in terms of AVG/HR/RBI (I know this because Beckham ended up replacing school on my flagship fantasy team)
Last season Beckham showed flashes of confidence around the 2H but got demoted for lollygagging around 2nd/3rd base and not scoring on a base hit that he should have scored on, so that killed whatever momentum he got going last year.
At this juncture I think he can be a serviceable 15-25HR 2B/SS if he gets the playing time, and if anyone can take a perennial low avg guy with some pop and maximize them it’s buck showalter (ask trumbo and Chris Davis about that)
So while I’m not defending the orioles for “going for it” at the same time I think there’s a solid chance Tim Beckham can be a pretty solid player for buck, and if he hit 27HR or something next season I wouldn’t be that surprised (hell didnt beckham have a 200/9/37 season in 200 abs a few years ago? He was all around better this year, but he fell off hard after his pre-ASB DL trip. I reckon the rays are cashing out while ~200-250 at bats of a 25+ HR pace in the first half is still in people’s heads.
He has HR upside but that’s about the only offensive thing to like about his game. He doesn’t steal bases which Is nothing new for Baltimore. But he only has 5 doubles to go with those 12 hrs so it’s not like he’s ripping the ball up there. He’s a free swinger who can play average to maybe above average defense with some hrs and a bad average and obp. Anybody striking out in 33% of there abs is going to be a liability there.The orioles win this trade but I don’t think Beckham is going to be much. An upgrade over tejada or hardy at this point but that isn’t saying much.
Beckham was a top 5 ss before his injury this year. A goOd to average major league fielder. 28 yo. He was a reminder of how the front office screwed up but a solid major leaguer. I watched his every game this year. WHen they played him regularly he did great. 14 HR ‘s for a short stop. HOw many ss’s in the majors top this. Few. Great pickup for nothing. I wish he was still with Rays. His replacement Miller is batting .200 with 3 hrs. Tampa’s front office sucks.
Not a top 5 SS
12 HR, not 14
Not a great pickup, maybe a decent pickup at best. And I wouldn’t be so fast to say the Rays got nothing.
Its doubtful that Beckham will ever be a starting caliber 2B for a playoff team. He certainly isn’t a starting caliber SS for a playoff team.
Great trade… maybe best of the deadline