We were surprised to see the results of a Yahoo! Sports poll, in which fantasy owners had to choose: Chicago White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham or Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Surprisingly, 56 percent of the 2,975 voters went with McCutchen over Beckham.

The results are particularly stunning in the aftermath of ESPN.com fantasy columnist Jason Grey’s statement that Beckham will be fantasy’s “next big thing.” SB Nation goes a step further with a comparison of Beckham to Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley.

While we disagree with Grey’s bragadocious, self-serving approach to fantasy analysis, his knowledge and credentials are legit. He’s a smart, well-trained guy who, in this particular instance, has a backer in stats guru Bill James. ESPN and James both project a big season ahead for Beckham.

McCutchen is no bum, though. And the second-year outfielder has a better fantasy commodity than Beckham with his potential to steal 30-plus bases. He’s also got a longer track record than Beckham, which helps his cause in the Yahoo! poll.

The real variable for Beckham is the fact that he’s played so little professional baseball. He was in the White Sox’ farm system for all of 56 games before being called up and immediately cracking manager Ozzie Guillen’s starting lineup last season.

Trying to project Beckham’s future based on limited statistics alone — he hit .270 with 14 HRs and 63 RBIs in 103 games — is a foolish act. One must also understand his skills, which are rich in tangible offensive attributes as well as the intangibles of a budding superstar.

Typically, we don’t dignify these kinds of fantasy debates, but this is a crucial one. Beckham and McCutchen, as well as Baltimore Orioles’ catcher Matt Wieters, are all within four spots of each other in MockDraftCentral.com’s current average draft results. That means, with an 8th or 9th round draft choice, a fantasy owner must know exactly what kind of young player he’s searching for.

And it’s our stance, based on statistics and position eligibility, that Beckham should be the guy.