White Sox sign Beckham; Viciedo designated for assignment

As the No. 8 overall pick in the 2008 draft, Gordon Beckham joined the White Sox a year later with understandably high expectations.

At first, he lived up to them, to the point where Beckham was quickly being molded into the face of the franchise.

Taking over as the Sox' starting second baseman on June 4, 2009, Beckham batted .270 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI in 103 games, finishing fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

The sky appeared to be the limit, but Beckham's offensive game started falling the following year, and he was never able to pull out of the nose-dive. On Aug. 21 last season, the White Sox finally decided they had seen enough, and Beckham was traded to the Angels.

Nontendered by Los Angeles on Dec. 2 after compiling a combined .226/.271/.348 hitting line with 9 home runs and 44 RBI in 2014, Beckham rejoined the White Sox on Wednesday on a one-year, $2 million contract.

The Sox also cut ties with left fielder Dayan Viciedo, who was designated for assignment. If he's not traded in 10 days, Viciedo can become a free agent.

As for Beckham, he was the Sox' starting second baseman for almost six full seasons. Most likely, he returns as a utility infielder.

"When he left Chicago, he played more in that role in Anaheim," said White Sox general manager Rick Hahn. "He actually played more at third and short than he did at second. We all saw for a number of years what he can do defensively as a second baseman.

"We also feel real good about his capabilities at third as well as short, where we expect he will get some time this year."

There is little doubt Beckham has strong defensive skills. He was an All-American shortstop at Georgia and broke in with the Sox as a third baseman before moving to second in 2010. After joining the Angels last August, Beckham played 13 games at third, six at shortstop and five at second base.

Beckham said he will accept any role the White Sox want him to fill on his second tour of duty, but he's not completely dismissing a starting job. I asked him if regaining his spot at second base is the goal heading into spring training.

"I'm not really going to get into that," Beckham said. "Obviously, I would love to play every day, but I'm not going to get into what I'm doing or what the White Sox want me to do in terms of that.

"My most important goal is to help them win, and, ultimately, whatever that entails, whether it be at second base full time or around the infield a bunch of times, all over the infield, then that's what I'm going to do. That's the best way to put it."

While Beckham quickly became an offensive liability after his impressive debut, he hit .293 against left-handed pitchers last season. The guess here is Beckham spends much of the upcoming season platooning with Conor Gillaspie, a left-handed hitter, at third base.

Beckham's biggest problem with the Sox was on the mental side. The 28-year-old infielder inevitably would go into a slump and the lights would soon go out.

Maybe Micah Johnson and Carlos Sanchez will show they are not ready for the starting job at second base and Beckham moves back into the regular lineup.

But odds are much better he comes off the bench and plays multiple positions or serves as a late-inning defensive replacement.

"I don't believe I'm a utility player, but I'm trying to win games and I'm not really worried about individual stuff," Beckham said. "It's just not productive for me to worry about stuff like that. It's productive for me to go out there and cover the field every day and get ready to play and help the team win. That's all I can do."

As for Viciedo, he became a prime trade candidate after the White Sox signed free-agent left fielder Melky Cabrera to a three-year, $42 million contract on Dec. 16.

The Sox could have nontendered Viciedo, but they signed the 25-year-old outfielder to a one-year, $4.4 million contract on Jan. 12. He batted .231 with 21 home runs and 58 RBI in 145 games with the Sox last season.

"With Viciedo, since the time that we tendered him the contract for 2015 we've added two outfielders in Melky Cabrera and Emilio Bonifacio," Hahn said. "Now, with Beckham helping out around the infield and lightening some of the infield portion of the load with Bonifacio, it got to the point where Dayan didn't very likely fit on this club in a meaningful way for 2015.

"The thought with designating him was to flesh out any interest over the next 10 days or so and find him a better home going into the season."

sgregor@dailyherald.com