Fresh off of selling off two-fifths of their rotation and making no other offseason moves of note, the Cincinnati Reds have chosen to trade for outfielder Marlon Byrd from the Phillies.
Sources: #Phillies and #Reds have a deal involving Marlon Byrd. RHP Ben Lively one of players headed to PHI. Announcement coming today.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 31, 2014
Byrd owed $8M in 2015 and has $8M vesting option for ‘16. #Phillies expected to send significant cash to #Reds in trade.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 31, 2014
Why did the Reds, fresh off of a 76-win season in which they finished fourth in the NL Central? That’s not entirely clear. Sure, Byrd is a decent outfield bat, posting a 110 OPS+ for the Phillies last season and provides solid defense, but it isn’t as if he is going to be a big difference maker in Cincy, even with the black hole of production they got out of their left fielders last season.
This is a team that has made up no ground on the Brewers, Pirates or Cardinals and is very likely to get lapped by the Cubs this season too. They’ve even entertained trade possibilities for roster centerpieces Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman. This is a team that should be looking to rebuild, not giving up a decent pitching prospect in Ben Lively to acquire a complementary bat for their lineup. Even with the Phillies paying a big chunk of the money owed to Byrd, it is hard to like this deal for the Reds.
From the Phillies’ end, they get quality pitching prospect and slowly continue their own rebuilding process after spending years in MLB purgatory due to misguided beliefs that they could still contend. Sound familiar, Cincinnati?
