Rays thought they were drafting different Beckham

TAMPA, FL — It seemed to most observers that the Tampa Bay Rays got the man they wanted with the first overall pick in Thursday’s draft – with nobody selecting before them, why wouldn’t they?

The Rays selected Georgia high-schooler Tim Beckham with the first selection, a shortstop who was the number one rated high school prospect in the draft. However, sources inside the Rays organization say things weren’t as they appeared.

“The club actually thought they were getting David Beckham,” said an anonymous source within the organization. “They thought it would be good publicity.”

Apparently the Rays planned on using David Beckham, the world-famous soccer player currently starring for the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer, as a way to sell tickets. The Rays have some of the lowest attendance figures in Major League Baseball, despite being in or near first place in the AL East all season.

When asked about the rumors, executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman admitted to the plan.

“Obviously, somebody dropped the ball somewhere,” Friedman said. “We thought if we had David, we could actually get some people to come see us play. It worked for the White Sox when they had Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, having a first place team simply isn’t enough.”

Scouting director R.J. Harrison later admitted that he was probably the source of the mistake. “I might have jumped the gun a little, because I never really looked at the kid’s first name. I just saw ‘Beckham’ and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I was so excited that it never occurred to me there could be an unrelated Beckham. As it turns out, there were two baseball Beckhams in the top ten picks, so that shows you how much attention I was paying.”

Friedman said that in spite of the now-devastated marketing plan, the team will try and move on.

“We have all these great posters and jerseys… I guess I’ll just have to try to sell them on eBay. But I’m keeping this life-sized cut out,” the young Rays executive admitted. “David Beckham is one handsome man.”

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!