Baltimore Orioles: Has Tim Beckham Done Enough to Stay in Baltimore?

The Baltimore Orioles have a glaring weakness among middle infielders in the minor leagues, but even with that, should Tim Beckham be part of their future plans?

Should the Baltimore Orioles plan on having Tim Beckham as a key part of their team moving forward? It is a question worth asking.

This season, with time missed due to injury, Beckham is hitting .231/.291/.333 with four home runs, 11 doubles, 17 runs batted in, 24 runs scored and 15 errors.

For his career, Beckham has played in 108 games as an Oriole and is hitting .268/.319/.426 with 14 home runs, 24 doubles, 43 runs batted in and 60 runs scored. He also has 24 errors as an Oriole.

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Let’s get a few things out of the way.

First, Beckham is not the player he was last August when he was American League Player of the Week.

Second, Beckham is not a shortstop.

He has a career fielding percentage of .956 as a shortstop. His fielding percentage in 2018 at SS is a ghastly .897.

So, does he have a role with the Baltimore Orioles moving forward?

Position-wise, the team could keep him at short, swap him and second baseman Jonathan Villar or even play him at third, where he also struggled defensively.

He could possibly even play the outfield, where he worked out a little in Spring Training.

But, I am of the opinion that if he isn’t starting, he shouldn’t be an Oriole. There is no room for a utility player who can’t play defense.

The Orioles were enamored with the former first overall pick when he was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline for minor leaguer Tobias Myers.

Then, he had a torrid August offensively in 2017, hitting close to .400, and it only added to that belief.

In September and October, he hit .180.

But, everyone struggled down the stretch.

So, in 2018, Beckham hit .179 in March and April in 23 games. In July, he hit .240. In five games in June, he hit .316, and in five games in August, he is hitting .318.

The player that Beckham is is probably closest to the July numbers. He also strikes out nearly 4.5 times for every walk. Not exactly a trait you want for a team trying to get away from the all-or-nothing approach.

The benefit for him is that there are very few middle infielders who are knocking on the big league door. The Orioles do have some shortstop prospects in 2018 second-round pick Cadyn Greiner and 2017 6th rounder Mason McCoy. But, neither of them are close to the majors.

On a rebuilding team, Beckham’s $3.35 million contract (2018 value) is not a huge number, although it will likely be closer to $4 million after arbitration.

Beckham seems to be a fairly popular player in the clubhouse, or at least he was with Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado.

And maybe that is part of what we are dealing with here.

A lot of unknowns.

We don’t know what the makeup of this clubhouse is anymore. Who will it hurt to get rid of, of the players left?

Steve Wilkerson looked decent before his oblique injury. Could he be a starter, instead of a utility player? If so, then you don’t need Beckham as much.

Renato Nunez is hitting .326 and playing third base for the Orioles. If he can hit over .250 and his defense is better, then you don’t need Beckham as much.

I am of the belief that Villar is better than Beckham, but early comments from Buck Showalter didn’t seem convincing on Villar.

You can’t get rid of everyone if you are looking to rebuild, because you have to be able to fill out a roster.

You also shouldn’t be keeping a player who is a defensive liability.

Sure, during a rebuild wins and losses are not always the biggest indicator of how things are going.

But, if you are in games and your pitching is doing well but your defense can’t make plays, it makes it hard to watch.

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The Orioles have likely seen too much of that already from Beckham. Is it something they are willing to deal with moving forward after 2018?

As with many parts of the Baltimore Orioles’ rebuild, we don’t have that answer now. However, by next Spring Training, I would imagine we will.

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