CHICAGO -- After a breakup that officially lasted just 26 games, the Chicago White Sox and Gordon Beckham were reunited under the premise that this time it will be different.

Take Beckham’s role, for starters. While the White Sox would still like to see Carlos Sanchez or Micah Johnson win the second base job in spring training and make it his own for an extended run, there still stands a chance that Beckham makes an eye-popping run this spring to the starting lineup.

The reality, though, is that Beckham’s days as an everyday player figure to be done, and his utility days now are ahead. That’s how the Los Angeles Angels saw it at the end of last season when they acquired Beckham via trade in late August and used him more on the left side of the infield (19 games at third base and shortstop) than the right (five games at second). He also pinch hit twice.

In conversations with White Sox personnel this offseason, the team was at least partially sold on Beckham’s willingness to do whatever the club needs. It helped lead to his new one-yard, $2 million deal.

“Obviously I would love to play every day, but I’m not going to get into what I’m doing or what the White Sox want me to do in terms of that,” Beckham said Wednesday. “My most important goal is to help them win, and ultimately, whatever that entails, whether it be at second base full time or around the infield a bunch of times, then that’s what I’m going to do. That’s the best way to put it.”

The oddity here is that when the White Sox and Beckham parted ways in August, part of the conversation was about Beckham needing a fresh start in a new locale. The former first-round draft pick out of the University of Georgia, never was able to build on his impressive rookie season in 2009 and the burden seemed to mount as his career progressed.

“I would say that I’m in a much better place than I was in August of last year,” Beckham said. "Getting away was good for me in general. I needed some time not only to kind of reboot but also to work on my game, and that’s something I feel like I did out in Anaheim.

“Although I was playing a good amount, I wasn’t playing every game, so I used the time that I wasn’t starting to really work and take (batting practice) and understand my swing a little better while fielding balls at shortstop and third base. I felt like it was really beneficial for me and not just the physical aspect.”

So after giving Beckham every chance possible to earn an everyday job, and then finally deciding last year that it wouldn’t work, why would Hahn and manager Robin Ventura elect to bring him back so quickly?

“Robin spoke to Gordon about this at length, and I spoke to Gordon a few days back before we finalized the deal,” Hahn said. “He’s in a real good place mentally I think in terms of coming back here and the role. He’s excited about contributing in any way to what he feels, and we all feel, will be a really good club. He got a taste of that, helping a good club win in Anaheim win, by filling in in various roles and using his talents to the max in terms of how he fit when specific needs arose out there.”

Maybe a schedule of playing three or four days a week will better agree with Beckham, even though he hasn’t given up the idea of starting. Even with the pressure of fitting into a new team with the Angels, and participating in a playoff push to boot, he looked more relaxed, as if he had figured out something offensively.

“I was focused on getting better and learning from some of those guys over there,” Beckham said. “I feel like I changed some mechanical things in my swing, and I’m not going to go into detail on that because it’s just not worth it, but I do feel good and confident. I started hitting balls in (batting practice) and in the games toward the end of September that I used to hit back when I was younger, and I mean line drives that carry out of the park and back-spinning some balls a lot more frequently.”

Not likely to get the second chance that Beckham received is Viciedo. He might be just 25, but after nearly 1,800 plate appearances over five seasons, his inability to commit to adjustments has been clear.

“I think it just got to the point with our organization where we decided to go a different direction,” Hahn said. “Obviously with Melky (Cabrera) and Emilio (Binifacio) being switch-hitters and bringing a little bit different element of athleticism to the team, it is more consistent with what we were specifically looking for. It doesn’t mean Dayan is not going to be able to have a long successful career and help out another club in a different way.”

The White Sox have 10 days to have a trade partner for Viciedo. If that doesn’t happen, the club is expected to set him free, only owing a small portion of the $4.4 million contract that was agreed upon between both parties a little more than two weeks ago.

“What happens in terms of Viciedo’s contract, or whatever our remaining obligation is on that once the 10 days are up, wasn’t much of a factor trying to assess Gordon’s value,” Hahn said. “It’s about trying to create the strongest one through 25 (on the roster) and this we feel (the addition of Beckham) improves our versatility and flexibility on a daily basis.”