Byrd, 34, was traded from the Cubs for RP Michael Bowden and P Hunter Cervenka as the Red Sox were trying to contain the damage following Jacob Ellsbury's April shoulder injury back in April. Byrd hit .273/.288/.333 in 105 plate appearances for Boston. Chicago is paying all but $400K of Byrd's $6.5MM this season, so the move doesn't hurt the Red Sox's bottom line. Bowden was DFA'd by the Cubs last week.
This is an example of the extremely rare DOUBLE BUST!!!
So the centerpiece of the deal was Nothing for Nothing (except the Red Sox did get more production out of Byrd than the Cubs did with Bowden).
The Cubs were playing bad and their bullpen was in a mess before the Byrd deal. Byrd was blocking AAA prospect Brett Jackson's promotion.
The Red Sox were in serious need of a major league OF. The conditions were perfect for an early Cub season trade: to fill a glaring need of an opponent in exchange for moving salary and start rebuilding with young talent.
But that is not what happened.
A) The Cubs continue to pay most of Byrd's salary.
B) Epstein should have been aware that Bowden was a classic AAAA pitcher.
C) The Cubs did not promote Jackson; instead decided to triple platoon with pinch runner Campana, journeyman Mather and end of career Johnson in center.
This event does not bode well for how new Cub management fixes problems. Epstein critics point out that in Boston, he buried many of his problems with cash because the Red Sox were a revenue generating monster. The Cubs are a different operation; Ricketts painted himself into a financial corner by overpaying for the team, overpaying for duplicate management positions and has a quickening attendance fall-off for his bad baseball product. The Cubs may play in a big city, but they have the financial balance sheet of a small market club struggling to get by.
Since the Cubs will hold a fire sale of existing 40 man roster talent before the trade deadline in July, fans should not be comforted by the Byrd deal. It could get worse. Management may decide to bring back Byrd - - - you can hear the thuds of Cub fan jaws gaping at that prospect. The rationale: we are still paying Byrd, so he should play for us. That is not a rebuilding move but a backward progression toward team stagnation.
