Gordon Beckham should not be accused of dialing up a globe-rattling pandemic to avoid retirement, and don't let anybody attempt to convince you otherwise.
It's just another favorable turn for a guy who has been able to dodge the end of the line for longer than most.
Entering his age-33 season, Beckham averaged just a .209/.278/.338 over his previous five seasons. He'd fallen down the stairs of the league, from second-division starter to depth for decent teams to depth for a 114-loss Detroit Tigers team. Earlier this year, he went 0-for-14 with five walks for the San Diego Padres in spring training, and they released him in late March. This probably should have been it for his career, and if it was, it wasn't a bad one. He didn't meet expectations, but he didn't let his ego get in the way afterward. He accepted demotions and minor-league contracts to get those extra chances. Nine-plus years of service time is no small feat.
But with teams eligible to carry 20 players who aren't on the 40-man roster, the New York Mets pulled Beckham out of thoughts of retirement for one more job ...
We’ve signed infielder Gordon Beckham and expect to add him to our player pool. pic.twitter.com/Xofm19eNxo
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 29, 2020
... as well as Melky Caberera ...
We’ve signed OF Melky Cabrera and he is expected to be added to our player pool. pic.twitter.com/ZVqkBNQtrr
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 29, 2020
... and Ryan Cordell.
We’ve resigned OF Ryan Cordell and expect him to join the 2020 #Mets player pool. pic.twitter.com/vLsVReXRHM
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 29, 2020
It's easy to #LOLMets this list, but they're not alone in collecting former White Sox who are resisting the ends of their lines. The Rays have Ryan LaMarre. The Reds have Matt Davidson. The Athletics have Ryan Goins. The Diamondbacks have Trayce Thompson and Jon Jay.
If the White Sox hadn't already experienced these players firsthand, they could very well be White Sox themselves. Instead, the Sox have their own group -- Drew Anderson, Ross Detwiler, Cheslor Cuthbert and Andrew Romine, and that's just out of 44 players.
This tier of players is maybe the only group that benefits from a season such as this. Below them, prospects are missing out on development time, especially those who don't have the means to establish their own training center. Above them, pre-arb players lose a chance to establish themselves during their primes, and established players are just trying to get through it like anybody else.
Meanwhile, for guys like Beckham and Jay who are just short of fully vested pensions and had the odds stacked against them, this might be their last opportunity. And while they might not be anybody's first choice, they could find themselves sifting through plenty of garbage time if COVID-19 cases take out chunks of rosters, or if seasons take a wrong turn and front offices would rather just get the year over with.
They're like the replacement players of 25 years ago, except nobody will hold these extra lives against them. And that's assuming they stay healthy themselves.
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Outbreak Outtakes
*The Minnesota Twins have sidelined two of their coaches -- bullpen coach Bob McClure and major league coach Bill Evers -- due to concerns about being in vulnerable populations. McClure is 68, Evers is 66. It seems relevant to point out that Don Cooper is 64 and Nick Capra is 62.
*The Toronto Blue Jays, who are trying to figure out the best way to gather in Toronto for summer camp, are starting by gathering at their spring training site in Dunedin, Fla., then chartering everybody up to Canada following a screening process. There are reasons to doubt the safety of this course.
*Ian Desmond is the latest notable player who is opting out of the season. While he cited COVID-19 concerns (his wife is pregnant), he also wrote in remarkable detail about his discomfort with baseball's shrinking African-American player population, and its connection to greater racial injustice. He sees an opportunity to do some work at the ground level.
*While Desmond wasn't afraid to explain his rationale for opting out of the season, Nationals beat writer Mark Zuckerman makes the case that players don't really need to offer reasons if they don't care to.
It's probably in their best interest to have a considered thought process, if only to offer it to teammates and current and future employers. But I agree that fans aren't owed anything if the player doesn't feel comfortable sharing. Joe Ostrowski and I talked about this on his show Monday evening regarding James McCann, who expressed discomfort about the conditions. McCann is speaking as a catcher and a union team representative, but he also could be speaking as a father of twins born two months premature. We don't know what anybody is really going through right now, or how close calls may register with certain players over the course of the season, so they should be given the freedom to prioritize the safety of those closest to them. As I mentioned above, there's an entire subset of fringe players who will be grateful for those opportunities.
(Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire)
