Eric Byrnes Rumors

Montero Drawing Interest

According to Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune, D'Backs catcher Miguel Montero is a popular name in trade discussions. He may be traded to address the team's second base vacancy. Mark Loretta and Adam Kennedy, who are in the $4MM or less range, were deemed too expensive. Montero, 25, hit .255/.330/.435 in 207 plate appearances this year. He's under team control through 2012. Magruder suggests the Red Sox, Tigers, Reds, Astros, and Brewers as possible matches. Some of those clubs do have decent second base prospects. Magruder adds that the D'Backs have received inquiries on Eric Byrnes, but don't...   Continue Reading

---

D'Backs Rumors: Johnson, Webb, Byrnes

Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes talked to the media Monday afternoon; the transcript can be found here along with comments from beat writer Nick Piecoro. Let's discuss. The D'Backs want to improve the offense and have good positional flexibility. However, Piecoro thinks it's possible the team relies on improvement from young players rather than acquisitions. The team will wait a few more weeks before really engaging with free agent Randy Johnson. You get the impression the D'Backs have their limit for him, maybe in the $10MM range. Byrnes intends to be more active in free agency than he has in the...   Continue Reading

---

Odds and Ends: Byrnes, Teixeira, Swisher

Random links for Tuesday... SI.com's Jon Heyman notes that a Cy Young award for Johan Santana would lock in his 2014 option at $25MM. Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball wonders if the Mets might end up signing Ivan Rodriguez. The Jays officially received Fabio Castro to complete the Matt Stairs deal. Buster Olney had this one in August. Bummer to see Larry Borowsky of Viva El Birdos stepping down from blogging. He's been my favorite Cardinals writer. Nick Piecoro wonders if Eric Byrnes could be traded for another bad contract player like Luis Castillo. The Red Sox treated Mark Teixeira...   Continue Reading

---

Week in Review

Here's a look back at the biggest stories MLBTR covered for the week of July 6 - 13: The Brewers completed a deal for C.C. Sabathia, sending Matt LaPorta and other prospects to Cleveland in return. Sabathia's looked great so far, and LaPorta's already making an impact in the Indians minor league system. Looks good for both teams right now if you ask this guy. The Cubs answered their division rival quickly, landing Oakland ace Rich Harden along with Chad Gaudin in exchange for Matt Murton, Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, and Josh Donaldson. Harden was brilliant in his debut. I...   Continue Reading

---

D'Backs Not Interested In Bonds

WEDNESDAY, 7:43pm: Magruder talked to Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris. Borris says the D'Backs have never had interest in Bonds, based on conversations with the team. However, Bonds would love to play for them. Borris says he could be ready to go in a week to ten days. WEDNESDAY, 9:17am: Jack Magruder takes this rumor a step further, saying the D'Backs have had internal discussions about Bonds. TUESDAY: It seems that D'Backs outfielder Eric Byrnes is out for the season. The team could certainly continue to get by with Conor Jackson in left field and Chad Tracy at first. Or, they...   Continue Reading

---

Diamondbacks Sign Byrnes To Extension

According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks have reached an accord with outfielder Eric Byrnes in the $30MM over three years. Piecoro believes that the fallout of the deal will be a trade of right fielder Carlos Quentin. Byrnes, 31, can play all three outfield positions. He's having the best season of his career, hitting .303/.365/.497 while shuffling between the first four spots in the batting order. Long-term, it looks like the Diamondbacks plan on using Byrnes in left field, Chris Young in center, and Justin Upton in right. It's possible Young and Upton will swap positions,..   Continue Reading

---

Byrnes Extension Seems Unlikely

It seems unlikely that the Diamondbacks will sign 31 year-old outfielder Eric Byrnes to a contract extension. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the team won't even approach Juan Pierre's five-year, $45MM deal. And Juan Pierre isn't good. It's just the business reality - the Diamondbacks have way too much outfield talent in their system to give Byrnes anything near what he's worth. He'd probably have to take something like two years, $20MM to remain in Arizona. Earlier I said 4/32 might do it but now I'm thinking even that wouldn't work. I still like him as a..   Continue Reading

---

Byrnes Offers Discount, Hopes To Stay With Arizona

Eric Byrnes is having a fine season, even correcting the one knock on his offense. He's on pace to easily set a career high in walks, and his .363 OBP would stand as a career best. And of course the 31 year-old is endearing to fans with his style of play and personality. Now he's offering the Diamondbacks a home team discount on a contract extension. Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune says preliminary talks have already taken place. The Arizona Republic has Byrnes comparing himself to various outfielders who snagged five-year contracts for $9-14MM annually. Byrnes would be..   Continue Reading

---

Rosenthal's Latest

Time for another Rosenthal column! Some of this is just a writeup from his recent video; here's the new stuff. A little elaboration on the Adam Dunn to San Diego idea - Rosenthal throws Clay Hensley's name into the mix. Hensley has had a rough couple of months, with a nasty blister, a groin strain, and some awful starts. His 54% groundball rate would be a nice fit in Chicago or Cincinnati. Another player I could see catching Wayne Krivsky's eye is Cla Meredith. The Cubs continue to shop Jacque Jones, hoping to slide Felix Pie in every day. Pie..   Continue Reading

---

Buzz Around The Game

Let's see what we've got going on today in a potpourri-style format. As predicted, Eric Byrnes was non-tendered last night. I can't possibly think of a better way for the Cubs to turn the Jacque Jones signing into a positive. If you sum up Byrnes and Jones' salaries, you'll be getting solid stats from RF for the price. Assuming Dusty Baker understands what a platoon is and how all that works. Of course, it's probably one more roster spot than the Cubs wanted to use on this type of thing since they already have John Mabry. But Mabry can back..   Continue Reading

---

Cubs Sign Jacque Jones

The Cubs cornered the market on guys who sound like they're French but aren't by signing Jacque Jones to a three-year, $16MM deal to play alongside Juan Pierre. Rounding out the French wannabe All-Star team are Alexis Rios, Joaquin Benoit, and Xavier Nady. I'm guessing Cubs fans will be less than thrilled with this signing based on the initial reaction. That the deal was for three years only adds to the anguish. Here's how lboros at Viva El Birdos put it: "Encouraging news out of the Windy City, per Sun-Times: the Cubs reportedly have made an offer to Jacque Jones...   Continue Reading

---

Search MLBTR

MLBTR Mailing List

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

MLBTR Features

Recent Posts

Rumors By Team

Monthly Archives

Live Chats

Tuesdays at 2 p.m. CST