Bye Bye Byrdie
The Nationals have designated Marlon Byrd for Assignment, bringing an end to what seemed like a promising trade. At the same time, they've announced the signing of former Oriole, Luis Matos, who will likely be given every opportunity to win the starting job.
Matos is a good pickup, giving the Nats something they've lacked: a flycatcher in center. He's a terrific defensive centerfielder, and he's likely to impress us by running down drives that dropped behind Byrd or hit Jackson in the head.
Offensively, he's not much. He's having a terrible year, hitting .207/ .278/ .331, but he has shown promise in the past. (In 2003, he hit .303/ .353/ .458). For the most part, he's a line-drive singles hitter who cranks the occasional homer. He's got a little bit of speed, even if he's not a pure base stealer. Truthfully, he's not all that different from the player the Nats traded to get Marlon Byrd. It's just that they're not making any mistakes trying to mold a lump of crap into a marble statue. Hopefully, since he's new, they'll take what he offers, good defense, and so-so offense.
The knock on him has been his attitude, but also his health. He's not quite Escobar when it comes to injuries, but he's broken almost every bone there is to break, most famously when he broke his finger while bunting. Apparently, you're not supposed to hang your fingers on the other side of the bat where the ball connects. Huh? Who knew?
As far as Byrd, the DFA is a procedural move. He's basically in limbo now, having been taken off the Nats 40-man roster. The Nats have 10 days to figure out what to do with him. They can trade him (though no one's likely to take him), they can release him, or they can try to send him to the minors. Although Byrd, at this point in his career, has the right to veto a move to the minors, which would make him a free agent. I would hope that he'd accept the assignment to New Orleans, if only so I can see my much lusted for dream platoon of Church and Byrd.
Luis Matos' stats.
Marlon Byrd's stats.
Matos is a good pickup, giving the Nats something they've lacked: a flycatcher in center. He's a terrific defensive centerfielder, and he's likely to impress us by running down drives that dropped behind Byrd or hit Jackson in the head.
Offensively, he's not much. He's having a terrible year, hitting .207/ .278/ .331, but he has shown promise in the past. (In 2003, he hit .303/ .353/ .458). For the most part, he's a line-drive singles hitter who cranks the occasional homer. He's got a little bit of speed, even if he's not a pure base stealer. Truthfully, he's not all that different from the player the Nats traded to get Marlon Byrd. It's just that they're not making any mistakes trying to mold a lump of crap into a marble statue. Hopefully, since he's new, they'll take what he offers, good defense, and so-so offense.
The knock on him has been his attitude, but also his health. He's not quite Escobar when it comes to injuries, but he's broken almost every bone there is to break, most famously when he broke his finger while bunting. Apparently, you're not supposed to hang your fingers on the other side of the bat where the ball connects. Huh? Who knew?
As far as Byrd, the DFA is a procedural move. He's basically in limbo now, having been taken off the Nats 40-man roster. The Nats have 10 days to figure out what to do with him. They can trade him (though no one's likely to take him), they can release him, or they can try to send him to the minors. Although Byrd, at this point in his career, has the right to veto a move to the minors, which would make him a free agent. I would hope that he'd accept the assignment to New Orleans, if only so I can see my much lusted for dream platoon of Church and Byrd.
Marlon Byrd's stats.
posted by Chris Needham at
12:33 PM
6 Comments:
The Nats website has Kearns listed as a center fielder. Any chance of a Matos/Kearns platoon? :) Are we going to see Guillen or Kearns in right tonight?
By
Anonymous, at 7/14/2006 2:18 PM
Is it me or does it seem as though the overwhelming majority of players on the Nats roster - including the most recent acquisitions - have a history of injury?
Enough with the damaged goods already! The franchise arrived in Washington as damaged goods - does it need more?
By
Anonymous, at 7/14/2006 3:11 PM
Chris: Any word on Church? Is it right that he's hitting .224 down south?? (http://www.zephyrsbaseball.com/content/05stats.htm)
Would love for him to be a candidate in CF after a theoretical Guillen/Soriano trade (moving Kearns over), but not sure how realistic that is.
P.S. Great job with the "Top 10 Moments" post! Good to re-live those good times...particularly all of Zimmerman's firsts.
By
Natty Bumpo, at 7/14/2006 3:31 PM
Also, is this just another example of Bowden trashing players on their way out:
"Some members of the organization felt that he was negatively influenced by then-bullpen coach John Wetteland, who was accused of changing Majewski's personality, a charge that Majewski denied. It appeared to some that Majewski cared more about shooting firecrackers and pulling pranks than winning ballgames."
http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060713&content_id=1555040&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was
why is it always a bill ladson column where we find out that "some members of the organization" have negative things to say about our departing players?
By
Natty Bumpo, at 7/14/2006 3:45 PM
NB - Church is all screwed up down in New Orleans. He hasn't done much of anything since his arrival. He realistically needs a change in scenery or management. His head is all messed up.
By
Brian, at 7/14/2006 3:54 PM
"..my much lusted for dream platoon of Church and Byrd."
Bwahhahahaha! Good one, Chris!
By
Joe Riley, at 7/14/2006 8:07 PM
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