Sounds like a Bourbon street special, I know, but I'd like to see one of those overlay maps of where Byrd's home runs would have landed in Safeco. I know we want right handed power, but we need to consider (again) the Adrian Beltre Safeco effect. Will Safeco clip the Byrd wings?
A quick glance at his production over that past year and a half in three pitcher's to neutral parks suggests inconclusivity. B-Ref gives Philadelphia a slight favoring to to the pitcher (95 this season, 100 overall), and he's slugging .508 there, with 10 of his 18 home runs. But...of his 24 homers last season, only 7 were hit in Queens - which is actually considered more pitcher friendly than Safeco (94 vs. 95). No doubt this is part of what Jack's scouts are looking at - does he have power that will translate to Safeco? And...at his age, will he fade in the stretch like Raul did last season? Byrd had a good September last year, OPSing .825, but his slugging dropped nearly 100 points from his percentages in June, July and August (.462 vs. .553, .569, .542).
It's still an improvement, but I can't blame Jack (much as I want to) for looking closely at all his options, especially considering these trading partners are most likely still asking for the moon.
My guess is there's an offer on the table, Philly wants more, Jack may yet offer more, but he's looking at other more attractive targets at this time. And they too are asking for too much.
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