Yardbarker: Marlon Byrd

Discussion: Marlon Byrd vs. Mike Cameron

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:49:09 -0500

More photos » by Luis Alvarez - AP Browse more photos » Yesterday, I posted an idea regarding a potential free agent signing for a Cubs bench position in 2010. Admittedly, this wasn't the most important possible addition to the roster for next year -- however, the Cubs had a very poor bench in 2009 and I still think Chad Tracy (at the right price) would be a good addition. Today, I'm going to analyze two play...

There's some Gary Matthews Jr. here, in that Byrd is a good fourth outfielder who is looking to get...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:26:48 -0500

There's some Gary Matthews Jr. here, in that Byrd is a good fourth outfielder who is looking to get paid like the regular he was in 2009. His counting stats may fool people into thinking he's that guy, but he's mostly a good backup who is past his peak and played more in '09 because he stayed healthy and everyone else didn't. Byrd's power is a park effect: he's slugged .522 at Arlington the last three seasons, .414 elsewhere. Buyer beware. Be-very-ware. Jo...

Odds & Ends: Sellers, Astros, Byrd, Vizquel, A's

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:47:47 -0500

Some more links as the weekend begins... Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Marlins, Royals, Tigers and Reds are currently baseball's most active sellers. The Astros signed minor league free agent Jose Valdez, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Brewers agreed to sign Santo Aybar, according to ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. The 16-year-old shortstop has to pass an age investigation for the deal to go through. Marlon Byrd repeated to ...

Chances slim of Byrd returning to the Rangers

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:50:00 -0500

I completed a post on Marlon Byrd, here.While not being the most appealing candidate, if Bay and Holliday go else where he maybe the best of whats left. Byrd has been in talks with the Rangers since the end of the season but it does not appear that they will be able to negotiate a contract..."We've had a decent amount of conversation," Daniels said. "I expect them to test the market. Based on what they're looking for...we're not in a position to do that right now. W...

Weekend Update ... A New Priority for the Cubs?

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:05:00 -0500

Move over Marlon Byrd and Mike Cameron, the Cubs will make Curtis Granderson their number one target of the off-season according to Bruce Levine ... if he is indeed available. Some recently questioned if Curtis Granderson is actually on the block. After all he has a cost-effective contract for 2010 and should be an important part of the Tigers' organization moving forward ... but the Tigers are having financial issues, like many teams and most of the country. Detroit has several high-pric...

Cubs Rumor Round-Up: Granderson, Bradley, Castillo, Grabow & Byrd

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:54:47 -0500

Let's try to filter through all the rumor reports from the GM meetings...

Milton Bradley

We know Hendry has talked to the Rays, Rangers, Blue Jays, Mets and Angels and really only the Rays and Rangers seem to be showing any real interest and both want the Cubs to pay a hefty portion of Bradley's remaining contract. The two most discussed names coming back were Pat Burrell or Kevin Millwood. For those that thought Aaron Rowand or Barry Zito's contract could get it done, Brian Sabean said he has absolutely no interest in acquiring Bradley.

Robothal's latest said the Rays and Cubs were talking again yesterday and were just $2-$3M apart, but then stirred up some quotes describing the discussions as "worse than Chinese water torture." and "I wish cattle prods were legal." And if the Cubs do get Burrell, they'll probably just have to pay some more to ship to another team as he'll unlikely be a Cub next year considering no one thinks he belongs in the outfield anymore.

One of our most trusted readers heard on the radio from Bruce Levine that a deal for Bradley should go down in the next 3-4 days.

Luis Castillo

There was the bogus three-team rumor of Bradley to the Blue Jays, Overbay to the Mets and Castillo to the Cubs. That was quickly shot down and the Mets say they want no part of Bradley, but Minaya did say he might talk to Hendry about Castillo. Castillo had a nice bounceback year with the bat in 2010 and is owed $6M in 2010 and 2011. He does walk at a friendly 10.8% rate for his career and that's been higher the last few seasons. UZR doesn't like his defense the last few seasons, but he was battling some leg injuries. As part of some package to move Bradley's contract, then it's a reasonable enough move, if it's going to cost the Cubs any decent minor league talent though and adding on Castillo's contract, I'd hope the Cubs would pass.

Marlon Byrd

It looks like the Cubs will make a run at Byrd when free agency opens and the Texas beat writer at MLB.com thinks it will take 3 years and between 18-24M to sign him, although he notes there isn't much demand for center fielders this year. That probably won't stop Hendry from offering Byrd exactly what he wants though. I ran through the numbers on Byrd yesterday, and he certainly wouldn't be a terrible player for the Cubs to pick up. I don't know about three years or $8M per, but he can handle all three defensive positions and brings a bit of power with him.

Curtis Granderson

The reports came out that the Tigers might look to try and trade guys like Edwin Jackson or Curtis Granderson to save a few bucks. Personally I think that either player is unlikely to get moved unless it's a package to rid themselves of one of their bad contracts in Dontrelle Willis, Magglio Ordonez or Nate Robertson. Nonetheless, Phil Rogers went nuts and said the Cubs must sell the fall the farm to get him. And don't get me wrong, I'd love to have Granderson on the Cubs. He plays pretty damn good defense, hit 20-30 HR's in Comerica Park the last few years and walks over 10% of the time and will be 29 next year. On the downside, he strikes out a ton and is basically a black hole versus lefties (.540 OPS against lefties versus .940 against righties). His contract owes him just $5.5M in 2010 and then goes to $8.25M, $10M, and a $13M club option with $2M buyout in 2013. That option goes up if he hits various incentives though.

But, I don't know how available Granderson is yet and we don't know the market. As I said, Tigers would probably love to package one of their bad contracts with him and get a boatload of major league ready talent if they could and neither of that really fits what the Cubs have to offer which is mostly low level minor leaguers with lots of upside. I guess the Cubs could start offering Carlos Marmol or Geovany Soto, but obviously that's doubtful. Dombrowski and Hendry do seem to have a pretty good dialogue and relationship, so I'm sure the Cubs will at least approach the idea.

John Grabow

It appears destined the Cubs will sign him to an extension in the 2/7.5M range, probably with some sort of third year option. I'm pretty indifferent to the whole matter. Grabow was good for the Cubs last year and he's can get both lefties and righties out. On the other hand, he's a bit walk happy and I don't know if you should being committing dollars to the bullpen so soon with other holes to fill and likely plenty of talent still available in February and March.

If we were to believe the GM Meetings rumors, there's the possibility that this is your Cubs lineup next year.

Castillo 2B, Fukudome RF, Lee 1B, Ramirez 3B, Byrd CF, Soriano LF, Soto C, Theriot SS

Cubs Potential Offseason Targets: Randy Winn or Marlon Byrd

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:30:44 -0500

I had to take a break from the series last week cause of that annoying paying job that I jeopardize every day spending way too much time here on TCR. So I'm gonna double up the efforts and today we look at some more potential center field candidates. Let's start with Randy Winn.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ 1998 24 TBD 109 379 338 51 94 9 9 1 17 26 12 29 69 .278 .337 .367 .704 83 1999 25 TBD 79 324 303 44 81 16 4 2 24 9 9 17 63 .267 .307 .366 .673 71 2000 26 TBD 51 190 159 28 40 5 0 1 16 6 7 26 25 .252 .362 .302 .664 72 2001 27 TBD 128 480 429 54 117 25 6 6 50 12 10 38 81 .273 .339 .401 .740 97 2002 28 TBD 152 674 607 87 181 39 9 14 75 27 8 55 109 .298 .360 .461 .821 120 2003 29 SEA 157 660 600 103 177 37 4 11 75 23 5 41 108 .295 .346 .425 .771 107 2004 30 SEA 157 703 626 84 179 34 6 14 81 21 7 53 98 .286 .346 .427 .772 103 2005 31 TOT 160 683 617 85 189 47 6 20 63 19 11 48 91 .306 .360 .499 .859 128 2005 31 SEA 102 436 386 46 106 25 1 6 37 12 6 37 53 .275 .342 .391 .733 100 2005 31 SFG 58 247 231 39 83 22 5 14 26 7 5 11 38 .359 .391 .680 1.071 173 2006 32 SFG 149 635 573 82 150 34 5 11 56 10 8 48 63 .262 .324 .396 .721 84 2007 33 SFG 155 653 593 73 178 42 1 14 65 15 3 44 85 .300 .353 .445 .798 104 2008 34 SFG 155 667 598 84 183 38 2 10 64 25 2 59 88 .306 .363 .426 .790 105 2009 35 SFG 149 597 538 65 141 33 5 2 51 16 2 47 93 .262 .318 .353 .671 75 TBD (5 yrs) 519 2047 1836 264 513 94 28 24 182 80 46 165 347 .279 .342 .400 .743 95 SFG (5 yrs) 666 2799 2533 343 735 169 18 51 262 73 20 209 367 .290 .345 .432 .776 100 SEA (3 yrs) 416 1799 1612 233 462 96 11 31 193 56 18 131 259 .287 .345 .417 .762 104 AL (8 yrs) 935 3846 3448 497 975 190 39 55 375 136 64 296 606 .283 .343 .408 .752 99 NL (5 yrs) 666 2799 2533 343 735 169 18 51 262 73 20 209 367 .290 .345 .432 .776 100 Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/10/2009.

It's gonna be hard to get excited about a guy with a .262//318/353 slash line last season. You can't even attribute it to an unlucky BABIP as it was .314 last year. No, his power disappeared hitting just two home runs after a healthy stretch of double digits. He did hit a measly 1.4% of HR/FB which is Ryan Theriot 2007/2008 low, so maybe there's a little bounceback (7.8% in his career albeit steadily declining).

Defensively, his UZR remains excellent over the last few seasons, as does his Rate2 and the Fan's Scouting Report considers him above average. Unfortunately most of that has been in right field and with the declining stolen base numbers you have to think he may not have the range for center, even in the cozy Wrigley Field confines.

While the novelty of a reunion between the player the Rays traded to get Lou Piniella and Lou would be a neat angle for the papers, I assume the Cubs will pass on the soon-to-be 36 year old. Despite his switch-hitting ability and potential leadoff qualities, his stolen base numbers are merely okay and he only walks 8% of the time and sees well under 4 pitches per plate appearance, so I don't think this would be much of a match for the Cubs.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ 2002 24 PHI 10 36 35 2 8 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 8 .229 .250 .371 .621 66 2003 25 PHI 135 553 495 86 150 28 4 7 45 11 1 44 94 .303 .366 .418 .784 111 2004 26 PHI 106 378 346 48 79 13 2 5 33 2 2 22 68 .228 .287 .321 .608 54 2005 27 TOT 79 259 229 20 61 15 2 2 26 5 1 19 50 .266 .323 .376 .698 87 2005 27 PHI 5 15 13 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .308 .400 .308 .708 86 2005 27 WSN 74 244 216 20 57 15 2 2 26 5 1 18 47 .264 .318 .380 .698 87 2006 28 WSN 78 228 197 28 44 8 1 5 18 3 3 22 47 .223 .317 .350 .667 76 2007 29 TEX 109 454 414 60 127 17 8 10 70 5 3 29 88 .307 .355 .459 .814 112 2008 30 TEX 122 462 403 70 120 28 4 10 53 7 2 46 62 .298 .380 .462 .842 121 2009 31 TEX 146 599 547 66 155 43 2 20 89 8 4 32 98 .283 .329 .479 .808 106 8 Seasons 785 2969 2666 380 744 154 23 60 335 41 18 215 515 .279 .340 .422 .762 99 PHI (4 yrs) 256 982 889 136 241 43 6 13 79 13 5 68 173 .271 .332 .377 .709 86 TEX (3 yrs) 377 1515 1364 196 402 88 14 40 212 20 9 107 248 .295 .352 .468 .820 112 WSN (2 yrs) 152 472 413 48 101 23 3 7 44 8 4 40 94 .245 .318 .366 .683 82 NL (5 yrs) 408 1454 1302 184 342 66 9 20 123 21 9 108 267 .263 .327 .373 .701 85 AL (3 yrs) 377 1515 1364 196 402 88 14 40 212 20 9 107 248 .295 .352 .468 .820 112 Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/10/2009.

The rumors flooded the TCR newsroom yesterday (i.e. Google Reader) with the Cubs targeting Marlon Byrd as their potential new center fielder. When I made a cursory list of guys I might look at it in this series, Byrd was on the radar as a potential 4th outfielder, but leave it to Jim Hendry and the Cubs to make him a top priority.

Anyway, Byrd was a top prospect in the Phillies system, one of the top prospects in the game at the time, but fizzled out before the Phillies gave up on him and moved him to the Nationals for Endy Chavez. It didn't go much better for him there, but then Texas gave him a shot and whether it was Rudy Jamarillo or the Ballpark or fate, he bounced back with three solid, albeit unspectacular seasons in Texas.

2007-2009 splits (courtesy of Baseball Musings Day-by-Database and ESPN.com):

Home: 309/375/522 with a HR every 27.20 AB

Road: 281/321/414 with a HR every 45.60 AB

vs. LHP: 277/336/462 with a HR every 28.93 AB

vs. RHP: 302/359/470 with a HR every 36.89 AB

It isn't like Wrigley isn't friendly as well, but those home/road splits have to be a little worrisome. His lefty vs righty splits aren't too pronounced, actually showing a bit of a reverse split so the Cubs need not worry about matchups too much.

Now one of the things the Cubs are said to be looking for is a run-producer/RBI guy and Byrd did have some decent RBI totals the last 3 years, particularly relative to his plate appearances. That included driving in 17.9% of the runners on base when he got up in 2009 which is an above average mark along with 18.4% in 2007, but just 12.5% in 2008, so you can see how volatile and unreliable hitting with runners on can be.

Defensively, he had a UZR/150 of 10.9, 10.9 and -2.8 over the last three years while bouncing around all three outfield spots, so it's tough to say from that if he'll be much of an improvement in center field. BP is kinder to him in LF and RF (109 and 107) then in CF( 95) for his career using Rate2, but it all suffers from small sample size issues as does UZR. The Fan's Scouting Report seemed to consider him as just a bit above average over the last three years.

He did walk an abysmal 5.5% of the time in 2009 which isn't too far off from his 7.5% career mark...both of which are below the standards I'd like to see the Cubs employ. The Cubs pursuit of Byrd shouldn't come as too much of a shock as they tried to acquire him for Matt Murton last season but were rebuffed, so obviously they've believed in skills for awhile. I guess we'll see how this unravels, but I'd probably prefer Mike Cameron on a one year deal (if that is in the cards) over Byrd and a likely multi-year deal, but I don't think we know the market yet for either player.

Check out Arizona Phil's Top 15 Cubs Prospects and enter our TCR Free Agent Frenzy Contest.

Byrd on Cubs Radar?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:48:09 -0500

According to an update from the GM Meetings on FoxSports.com, Marlon Byrd is "likely to be targeted by the Cubs." The Cubs plan to move Kosuke Fukudome back to right field and find a true centerfielder ... once Milton Bradley is traded. Mike Cameron is one of the possible solutions, but the former Brewer is reportedly a back-up plan of a back-up plan at best. FoxSports.com reported "Free agent Marlon Byrd is certain to draw their interest."

Marlon Byrd or Mike Cameron for CF?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:45:41 -0500

Ken Rosenthal adds a bit more about the Cubs: Byrd likely to be targeted by Cubs — 6:10 p.m. Once the Cubs trade Milton Bradley, their plan is to find a center fielder and move Kosuke Fukudome back to right field. Free agent Marlon Byrd is certain to draw their interest. Rudy Jaramillo, the Cubs’ new hitting coach, is a huge fan of Byrd’s from their three seasons together with the Rangers, according to major-league sources. Byrd, 32, is seeking a multi-year contract after b...

Off Season Stuff

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:48:47 -0500

The first batch of items for the off season have happened. Marlon Byrd: On the first day of free-agent eligibility, Marlon Byrd filed. No surprise there, he probably deserves a decent paycheck. As we all know, there's been a lot of noise about him wanting to stay, but whether he remains is unknown. It's down to money, and the fact that there is a logjam coming behind him. Don't know how long we'd want to commit. There's just too many variables now. There's some talk t...

Sheehan on Byrd

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:56:35 -0500

Sheehan on Byrd Lincoln (Dallas): Joe, please tell Ron Washington, Michael Young, and the hoards of Ranger fans that signing Marlon Byrd in free agency is a bad idea... Joe Sheehan: The devil is in the details. I'd take Byrd back on a two-year deal for the kind of money those deals usually entail. It's a lefty-heavy outfield, and Byrd's a nice fourth OF. If it takes more than that, or any kind of PT assurance, you have to let him go. From Joe Sheehan's chat ...

Analyzing the Marlon Byrd Situation, Part I

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:30:14 -0500

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP 2 months ago: Texas Rangers' Ian Kinsler, left, celebrates his solo home run with Marlon Byrd against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam) Browse more photos » Marlon Byrd is a free agent after the 2009 season, and one of the things that you're starting to hea...

Marlon Byrd is an Animal

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:47:00 -0500

Marlon Byrd set a Texas Rangers franchise record Tuesday after nailing seven hits in a double header against the Cleveland Indians.After suffering through fifteen scoreless innings, the Rangers took the first game 11-9 and the nightcap 10-5 to pull within two games of the Boston Red Sox for the American League wild card. They should send Eric Wedge a thank you card.Byrd wasn't the only Ranger swinging a hot bat though. Rookie Julio Borbon hit two longballs in the first game while first ba...

New T.R. Sullivan mailbag column up

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:23:39 -0500

T.R. Sullivan has a new mailbag up. He says the Rangers "need" Marlon Byrd back next season, talks about the Rangers potential ROY candidates, and Neftali Feliz's future, among other things... Check it out...