In a trade market that is light on right-handed bats, Marlon Byrd of the Philadelphia Phillies has been available for a while now. He has limited no-trade rights that create a bit of a complication in potential deals, but it has still been surprising that more teams have not tried to move on Byrd.
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The Seattle Mariners have long been interested in Byrd, with a potential deal reportedly gaining momentum in recent weeks. The problem is, the Mariners are on the list of ‘no-trade’ teams for Byrd, meaning he could veto a deal. That has hindered talks between those two teams for now.
Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reports that another team to watch in the Byrd trade market is the Cincinnati Reds.
"Byrd is coveted by teams looking for a right-handed power bat. Seattle and Cincinnati fit that description. Byrd has a no-trade clause to Seattle so he’d likely want his $8 million option for 2016 guaranteed to go there. Byrd’s 2015 salary is already guaranteed at $8 million.Cincinnati is not on Byrd’s no-trade list and the Reds do have interest in him."
It boosts Philadelphia’s position in potential negotiations with the Reds that Byrd would not be able to nix a deal. It makes sense that Cincinnati, in the thick of the National League Central, would like to bolster an offense that has been inconsistent and is currently without Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto.
Byrd brings pop and drives in runs from the right side. Those attributes are highly sought after in the trade market, as Byrd and Alex Rios are at the top of the list of guys on teams’ radars to fill that need.