Marlon Byrd is quite the story. After several serviceable years in the big leagues, he completely flopped last year. He was suspended for PEDs and then just really went down the shitter. Now he's back with the Mets after winning a roster spot in Spring Training and seems to be back to his normal self. And since the Mets are still their normal selves and sucking, he's on the trade block and a possibility for the Pirates.
After that miserable season in Chicago/Boston last year, Byrd has really turned it around. I won't burn your eyes with his awful stats from last year but instead show you that he's hitting .261/.307/.486 for an OPS of .783 with 13 HRs and 43 RBIs. For his career he's batting .277/.334/.417 for an OPS of .751. So he's right about at those career averages. Byrd plays good defense so that's not a problem either. Now the big question for me, like always, is how he does with RISP. Well, Byrd will give you a slash of .262/.280/.462 for an OPS of .742. That's basically the same as he hits normally. But for his career....... he doesn't hit any different with a slash of ..269/.333/.409 and an OPS of .741. He'll give and go a bit in OBP and SLG but the OPS will remain the same. He hits what an average player would. But for the Pirates, that's an upgrade.
Concerns I have with Byrd include his awful year last year. He was juicing and still sucked tremendously. It would not shock me if he regressed back to that state though it's probably unlikely. I also have come to the conclusion that the Pirates will need a left handed bat now to platoon with Jose Tabata because he is really outplaying Travis Snider. Tabata could be an excellent fourth outfielder and sure up the bench when he doesn't play as would his new platoon mate. Byrd being a righty may not be a fit.
Overall, I've come to the conclusion that Byrd is an average player. His average is average, his power is average (HRs in the 20s), his OBP is average, his SLG is average, and his OPS is average. He's a guy who will contribute on a team but not really stand out. Sometimes that is a good thing when you're that bad at a position like the Pirates are, but they really need a guy who can stand out by driving in runs. It doesn't seem that Byrd is that guy but he wouldn't be a bad pickup in my opinion. Slot him third behind Ibañez and Schierholtz but ahead of Alex Rios on my target list. He'll help but not be a huge force with the bat but if the price is really cheap as it should be and everyone else's price is high, I bet NH would be a buyer.
Tomorrow's trade target will be OF Michael Morse
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