It was not surprising that Marlon Byrd was traded by the Cubs. What was surprising that any team would want a .071 hitter. More shocking, that team was the Boston Red Sox, who had a long, drawn out soap drama on Theo Epstein's compensation package.
Apparently, Byrd was the only starting outfielder in the majors available to quell the Red Sox problems. Boston gets Byrd, but only has to pay the major league minimum (Cubs pay the rest). In essence, the Red Sox hope that Byrd gets back to his "baseball card" average numbers in the second half of the season to hit around .270. Except, Byrd's rapid decline could be attributed to being hit in the face by a pitch by his now new Boston teammate. Significant facial and head hits can make some baseball players gun shy at the plate, and any fraction of a second hesitation causes less contact in the hitting zone.
Byrd is a nice guy, a professional player. But he goes into a hornet' nest of bad feelings in Boston. New manager Bobby Valentine's approach to the players has met with one of the worst starts in team history. Getting blown away by the Yankees on national television does not help the clubhouse chemistry either.
The Cubs get a 25 year old reliever, Michael Bowden, and a player to be named later.
Bowden has been in the minors 7 years. Last season in AAA, he went 3-3, 2.73 ERA, 16 saves and 1.158 WHIP. It is hard to imagine why the Red Sox, in need of a closer, did not give Bowden more of an opportunity at the major league level. He may be one of those AAAA players.
At the very least, the Cubs could use him as Kerry Wood's replacement in the set-up position.
The move of Byrd did not open up the center field spot for Brett Jackson. Instead, the Cubs called up Tony Campana, who misplayed two fly balls in his first game. Campana, who really comes down to a pinch runner-base stealer, is not an everyday center fielder. Joe Mather and Reed Johnson are bench players which will now platoon in center because there is no reason to start the arbitration clock on any player in Iowa. Campana, Mather and Johnson are the three-header $7.5 million outfield corps for the rest of this lost season.
The Cubs will keep Jackson and 1B prospect Anthony Rizzo in Iowa all year so they can pile up huge numbers. Then, the Cubs marketing gurus will use those numbers this off season to campaign for season ticket renewals under the guise that the "kids are ready to play!"
