Marlon Byrrrrd. Give it your best John Houseman pronounciation. The former Phillies draft pick is reportedly coming back to town.
Michael Barkann has a "league source" who has given him that information, which is posted here on CBSPhilly.com.
A league source tells Barkann the Phillies will sign the 35 year-old outfielder. Byrd played with the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013.
Just an hour ago I wrote this about Byrd:
Marlon Byrd: The Phillies brought back their manager from 2003, so why not one of his starting outfielders? I have always been a fan of Byrd; he always had a strong work ethic. The Phillies dealt him in 2005 for Endy Chavez in a swap of outfielders who were underperforming. Byrd went on to have a nice career, and then crashed; after a PED suspension Byrd got his act together in 2013. I am happy for his nice year last year, but there is far from a guarantee that he will produce anything like that again. Too much risk.
Sigh.
I really did like Marlon Byrd and I hope he does well. Byrd hit 24 home runs and drove in 88 runs for the Mets and Pirates combined last year. If he could give the Phillies 20 and 80, they are indeed improved. The question is, are they improved enough, even on Byrd's high end?
