Gordon Beckham ETA?

[JediKnights]

Does anyone have any insight on when G. Beckham will arrive in the big leagues?

[Todd Zola]

It is a bit curious that the White Sox have kept Beckham at SS as the path to the bigs is readily available at 2B -- unless they feel they can move Alexei back to 2B, likely against his will.

If he were at 2B in the minors, I would say sooner than later, but with his staying at SS, they probably want to see if Ramirez can play SS at the big league level so a callup may not be imminent.

[uharchmajor]

I have a feeling it's purely fan speculation, but I've heard plenty about Ramirez possibly moving to CF.

[Todd Zola]

Fan speculation based on some quotes from Ozzie.

Not sure if it is

Smoke = fire

or a

Smoke screen

[msugray]

From article Monday:

http://www.southtownstar.com/sports/154 ... nb.article

Guillen all but ruled out calling up shortstop Gordon Beckham, the touted 2008 first-round draft pick.

''Beckham doesn't play second,'' Guillen said. ''If you see Beckham up here this year, we're in trouble. He should play a full season down there (at Birmingham). If we have to (bring him up), we will, but I hope we don't have to.''

[jkadagio]

Read on another site fan speculation that he is being called up 6/4. Can't find a verifiable link yet, sorry.

[Todd Zola]

he's been officially called up according to ESPN with Betemit being released

[rotohuff]

Don't know much about this guy since I play predominantly in NL leagues. In a 12 team mixed, is he worth snatching with a current middle infield of Felipe Lopez, Furcal and Kelly Johnson?

[Todd Zola]

Guys picked #8 overall are going to be saddled with the "prospect hype", so it is usually best to temper expectations.

With that said...

Kelly Johnson is a pretty decent comp for what to expect this season -- decent average, more pop than speed from a middle guy. Upside is obviously much higher.

Furcal is scuffling a bit but he has been dinged up -- I expect a decent rest of the season, with a few more steals worked in along the way.

Which brings us to Furcal. I don't think I would drop him, but he is providing an completely empty .245 average - even with tempered expectations, Beckham can't do any worse.

I'd likely put him in for Furcal and hope at some point, I have 4 viable MI so I can deal one.

If you need to drop Furcal -- hmm, it would depend on what I could pick up if Beckham struggles and I wanted to cut bait.

[cwk1963]

Which brings us to Furcal. I don't think I would drop him, but he is providing an completely empty .245 average - even with tempered expectations, Beckham can't do any worse.

I'd likely put him in for Furcal and hope at some point, I have 4 viable MI so I can deal one.

If you need to drop Furcal -- hmm, it would depend on what I could pick up if Beckham struggles and I wanted to cut bait.

Which is the conundrum we face with these minor leaguers. For every Ryan Braun, there's at least one Alex Gordon. I'd hang onto Furcal as long as I could. Barring an unknown injury, I think Furcal at least performs as well as Beckham would and is at his lowest right now. In fact, I'd look for Furcal to bounce back to a more Furcal-esque performance the rest of the year. Furcal probably won't do any worse whereas Beckham could as a rookie.