Mariners ink Gordon Beckham to Minor League deal

The Mariners signed veteran infielder Gordon Beckham to a Minor League deal Friday, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com.

Beckham will play in Seattle’s final spring training game Saturday against the Rockies. After that, he will head to Triple-A Tacoma, where he will be part of a platoon at second and third bases with Tyler Smith and Mike Freeman.

The 30-year-old Beckham will try to continue his career with the Mariners’ organization after being released by the Giants on March 23. An eighth overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, Beckham played his eighth Big League season last year with the Braves and the Giants after spending most of his first seven seasons with the White Sox.

For his career, Beckham has hit .240/.303/.370, with his best season being a .270/.347/.460 line as a rookie in 2009 when he also hit 14 home runs and knocked in 63 runs en route to finishing fifth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. He batted.217 with five homers and 30 RBI in 85 games with the Braves before being dealt to San Francisco, where he was hitless in five at-bats in three games.

The addition of Beckham gives the Mariners time to decide on what to do with Shawn O’Malley, who is recovering from an appendectomy, before he comes back to the fold.