The Mockingbird

David Eckstein is officially out the door, traded to the Diamondbacks. Unlike the (as of yet unofficial) trade of Stairs for Fabio Castro, this looks like a pure warm body trade/salary dump. Chad Beck is 23 and not doing much in high-A ball after starting off the season repeating A. Here’s the only snippet I could find about the new Jays’ stuff from Baseball America, when he was drafted in 2006 in the 14th round:

Louisiana-Lafayette boasts two of the state’s top college pitchers in righthanders Jason Fernandez and Chad Beck. Fernandez is the only draft-eligible member among the Cajuns’ top four pitchers, all of whom finished with sub-3.00 ERAs. He has an 88-92 mph fastball and a good slider. Beck originally signed with Louisiana-Lafayette as a football player and wound up at Panola (Texas) Junior College before joining the Cajuns this season. He has better pure stuff than Fernandez, throwing in the low 90s, but doesn’t have nearly the same command. Beck’s younger brother Casey, a righthander at San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College, is one of the draft’s top juco prospects.

Beck was originally signed by the Jays in the 43rd round in 2004, but did not sign.