Byrd returns to the roost with Phillies with feathered nest

The news is official, Marlon Byrd is coming back to the Phillies. Wow, I didn’t expect this, and to tell you the truth, I hope this isn’t one of those signature signings by Ruben Amaro Jr. that just seems wrong. It’s been reported that the Phillies will pay Byrd at least $8M per year for two years, plus possibly other incentives.

Byrd became a journeyman after leaving the many teams that he’s played for, and no team seemed to want to sign him for long term. I wonder what the Phillies see in him that all the other teams that he’s played with didn’t?

Another thing about Byrd is that he is 36 and will turn 37 in August of 2014. The Phillies are supposed to be getting younger and signing older players that Byrd isn’t the kind of thing that the Phillies should be thinking about doing when one of their biggest problems is that they are an ‘old’ team.

Byrd has 106 career home runs and 533 total RBI in 12 full seasons in the majors, can someone tell me that this equates to $8M per year for 2 years? I don’t see the logic in it? To top this, he made $700K last year, and it seemed like his career was practically done. He did do well in the playoff run for the Pirates, but does that equate to overpaying for Byrd when in all probability, no one would have signed Byrd for this type of money.

Byrd’s numbers in his career so far:

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