Instead of projecting how the Sox will do this season, i94 Sports takes a look at each position and asks: Is this the best the Sox could do?

Top Available Second Basemen

• Orlando Hudson: Signed with Minnesota; 1 year, $5 million
• Felipe Lopez: Signed with St. Louis; 1 year, $1.75 million
• Placido Polanco: Signed with Philadelphia; 3 years, $18 million
• Mark DeRosa: Signed with San Francisco; 2 years, $12 million
• Ronnie Belliard: Signed with Los Angeles Dodgers; 1 year, $825,000

On the criteria of these preview posts, this is one of the easier ones: At second base, this is the best the White Sox could do. Gordon Beckham’s experience as a middle infielder, and how well his bat projects as a second baseman, makes him the clear choice.

Though, Beckham may be the team’s best shortstop, too.

When the Sox announced Beckham's move to second base, some wondered why he didn't go to his original position: shortstop. That way the Sox could move Alexei Ramirez back to second. This is understandable because Ramirez was bad defensively last season; he was also a bad defensive second baseman in 2008. At both shortstop and second, according to Baseball Prospectus 2010, Ramirez allowed more runs than the average player at his position.

However, Ramirez’s propensity for the highlight reel play makes some believe his defensive lapses are the result of lackluster concentration; because of this, because Beckham’s defensive ability up the middle is a mystery, and because there were some scouts who believed Beckham was “fringy” as a shortstop when he was drafted, I think the Sox made the right choice moving Beckham to second.

Aside from Ramirez, Beckham is a tremendous upgrade over the other second basemen on the 2009 Sox roster: Chris Getz and Jayson Nix. This isn’t a tremendous feat though. Getz (who was traded to the Royals in November for Mark Teahen) is extremely grindy, but that’s about all he contributes. And Nix couldn’t overcome Getz’s grindiness for more at-bats, at least partly, because he failed to reach the “Mendoza Line” against right-handers.

But more telling than Beckham being better than those on the roster, Beckham is a better option than any of the top available second basemen, listed above. So unless you really like Orlando Hudson, you'll agree, the time has come to hand second base over to Beckham for the next few years or so.

At second, Beckham's bat is even more valuable, especially in the power categories. About the only question remaining with Beckham's skill set is his power, but this is hardly an issue up the middle. Even if Beckham just matches last season's production (14 homers), he'll be among the AL's second base leaders.

But considering Beckham was a rookie, learning a new position, it's fair to expect improvement across the board. The only question is how much more productive will Beckham be than the average second baseman.

Erick is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Outside the Clubhouse.