Orioles Nontender Tim Beckham and Caleb Joseph

The Baltimore Orioles have decided to nontender Caleb Joseph and Tim Beckham which means that they are officially free agents. Joseph and Beckham were the only 2 arbitration eligible players that were not offered contracts for the 2019 season. 

Tim Beckham, who the Orioles acquired in a 2017 trade deadline deal with the Rays for minor league pitcher, Tobias Myers, started off hot in August right after the Orioles acquired him, winning the American League Player of the Month and hitting .394 with a 1.062 OPS. In September of 2017 he struggled while also playing with a hamstring injury the rest of that season. The purpose of acquiring Beckham was to fill the void of JJ Hardy as Hardy could not stop getting hurt and wasn’t hitting well either. The former number one overall pick in the 2008 draft, never truly lived up to his expectations, struggling not only offensively but was never consistently good in the field. 

Going into the 2018 season, Beckham was sidelined with a groin injury that required core muscle surgery surgery, it is believed that he was dealing with it for quite some time. A natural shortstop, he was forced to learn a whole new position when Machado insisted on moving over from 3rd to short. Beckham returned in 2018 but only hit .230 on the year. The Orioles are doing everything they can to cut costs and Beckham’s projected salary was 4.3 million, which was too much of a price to pay for an inconsistent player like Tim Beckham.

Caleb Joseph was the last Oriole under contract to play in the 2014 division title playoff run, as Chris Davis was suspended for the entire 2014 postseason. Caleb Joseph was a key member of the 2014 club, as he was the replacement for Matt Wieters, the year everyday backstop, Wieters suffered a UCL tear, which required Tommy John Surgery to end his season. Joseph, a 2008 7th round draft pick has struggled with his bat for his whole career, but is known for his defense and also as a great clubhouse leader. Despite almost quitting baseball at one point in his long minor league career, Joseph has now played 402 major league games, all with the Orioles. The 32 year old backstop was projected to make 1.7 million in arbitration. 

The Orioles could possibly bring these two players back on minor league deals, but don’t count on it. Nontendering Beckham and Joseph frees up a little bit of money and doesn’t take up a 40 man roster spot for them, even if they bring them back on minor league deals. 

Mychal Givens, Dylan Bundy, and Jonathan Villar were the other 3 contracts tendered, which was expected. 

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