August 11, 2006
Praising Byrnes
Bob McManaman recognizes the good job of Josh Byrnes in his first year with the Daimondbacks:
Many of Byrnes' key acquisitions that have helped Arizona remain in contention in the National League West were calculated, low-risk, high-reward moves that banked on players bouncing back from subpar half-seasons or injury.
Case in point: He traded for an All-Star catcher and former Silver Slugger in switch-hitting Johnny Estrada, who is hitting .309 and was leading all NL catchers with 57 RBIs.
Estrada was coming off a difficult season with the Atlanta Braves, which included lingering effects from a June concussion, but parting with a pair of non-spectacular relief pitchers (Oscar Villarreal and Lance Cormier) to get him now seems like a steal.
He makes a similar point about Eric Byrnes:
"I've seen Eric since he was a sophomore in college, so it was not overreacting to two or three bad months," Josh Byrnes said, "it was having a longer view of the player. And like him, it was the same thing with DaVanon."
It appears Josh doesn't get fooled by small sample sizes.
Posted by David Pinto at
09:03 AM
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