Tim Beckham suspended 50 games.

He’s already proved what an utter moron he is and this is his second violation of the substance abuse policy. Couple that with that he’s a middle of the road prospect and the Rays wouldn’t even miss him.

I realize you don’t like Baseball America of stuff like that, which is perfectly acceptable. You can disagree with them, and no one should call you wrong. But to act like you know what the Rays are going to do regarding Beckham’s future comes across the wrong way. You don’t like him as a prospect, which is perfectly fine. That doesn’t mean that the Rays will cut or release a player who shows promise, just because you don’t like him.

If you want to know some of the opinions of some experts on Beckham, I ran a questions series over the offseason at DRaysBay. Here is the link: http://www.draysbay.com/2012/4/5/2926892/draysbay-prospect-predictions-series-tim-beckham

A few quotes that are important…

From Jim Callis:

He looks like a .260-.270 hitter with 15 homers a year

Kevin Goldstein:

I think he’ll have a decent, but again, not great career in the end.

Frankie Piliere:

I just think the expectations need to be adjusted. I think he’ll be solid in 2012 and could be a good big leaguer. But, in my opinion, I just think you need to adjust the expectations. I don’t think he’s a star but I think he can be a decent big leaguer.

David Rawnsley:

If you can post a .730 OPS in the big leagues as a shortstop, you’re a quality player and there is no reason to believe that Beckham can’t do that. Four shortstops posted OPS’s between .727 and .743 in 2011: Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins, Erick Aybar and Alexei Ramirez. That’s good company to keep.

The bottom line is this. Beckham hasn’t been the first pick in the draft since 2008. Yes, it would be nice if he suddenly morphed into Buster Posey. But that’s not happening. If he had been the 24th pick in the first round in 2008, the Rays and their fans would be patting themselves on the back for having a 22 year old athletic shortstop with some offensive potential knocking on the big league door. There’s plenty of value in that.

John Sickels:

He looks like a utility player with some pop to me, but he is still young enough to grow beyond that and prove me wrong.

Do you think his career minor league line would look the same if he started straight out of high school as an 18 yrold?

Also, again, Beckham isn’t on his second suspension.

Damn, I can’t even respond that I beat you head to head this year…yet.