Tampa Bay Rays minor-league outfielder Tim Beckham has been suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for drug issues, according to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and also confirmed by a tweet from MLB.
The 50-game suspension comes as a result of a second violation for abuse.
Beckham, who was the Rays' No. 1 overall selection in the 2008 MLB draft, was recently playing for Triple-A Durham and was not listed on the 40-man roster.
As Baseball Prospectus writer Kevin Goldstein tweets, it's important that Beckham wasn't on the 40-man roster because if he was, MLBPA drug testing doesn't include marijuana. If he was on the roster, he would still be eligible to play and possibly get called up relatively soon, tweets Topkin.
Beckham was hitting .204/.290/.278 with six runs, two doubles, a triple and one stolen base in 13 games this season with the Durham Bulls.
He's never hit over .275 in his professional career and now continues to be a disappointment off of the field.
Beckham said in a statement, as Topkin tweeted, “I regret that my poor judgment resulted in me letting my teammates and the Tampa Bay Rays organization down."
The Tampa Bay Rays now have an off-field issue with another young prospect; Josh Hamilton being the other.
Will Tim Beckham ever get past his off-field issues and be the star that the Tampa Bay Rays once thought he could be?
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