PRESS RELEASE FROM THE REDS:
CINCINNATI - Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty today announced the acquisition of OF Marlon Byrd and cash from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for minor league RHP Ben Lively.
"Marlon will give us power and run production, and he can play left field," Jocketty said. "We expect him to provide a big bat and balance in the middle of our lineup."
Byrd, 37, in a career-high 154 appearances last season hit .264 with 28 doubles, a career-best 25 HR and 85 RBI. He led the Phillies in HR, extra-base hits (55) and total bases (263) while ranking second among all National League right fielders in HR and RBI.
A National League All-Star in 2010, Byrd has averaged 15 homers and 71 RBI over a 13-year Major League career with the Phillies, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. He has 845 career appearances in center field, 398 appearances in right field and 144 appearances in left field. Byrd spent most of the last 2 seasons playing right field for the Mets and Phillies.
Lively, 22, in 26 starts last season at Class A Bakersfield and Class AA Pensacola combined to finish 13-7 with 3.04 ERA.
