Phillies trade Marlon Byrd to Reds for minor-league pitcher

Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty isn't waving the white flag just yet.

After dealing two starting pitchers this winter, Jocketty addressed his club's slumping offense Wednesday by acquiring Marlon Byrd from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor-league pitcher Ben Lively.

The Phillies will pay half of Byrd's $8 million salary next season, but won't contribute anything toward the slugger's vesting option at the same figure in 2016.

"He's very excited," Jocketty said of Byrd, a career .310/.353/.508 hitter at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The Reds GM said the club had long targeted the right-handed hitting slugger.

(Courtesy: FanGraphs)

Byrd, 37, is coming off a a career year at the plate, posting a .445 slugging percentage and 110 OPS+ with personal bests in home runs (25) and games played (154). His 49 homers since the beginning of 2013 rank eighth among major league outfielders. Byrd also struck out at a career-worst rate (29 percent) last season.

Byrd's 2016 vesting option triggers with 600 plate appearances next year or a total of 1100 PAs between 2014-15, including 550 next season, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.

The move figures to alleviate concerns the Reds were preparing for a rebuild effort after their worst season since 2009.

Cincinnati was already expecting bounce-back campaigns from injured stars Jay Bruce and Joey Votto, but Byrd adds further pop to a lineup that ranked 28th in runs scored and second-to-last in OPS in 2014. It's an offense that will be asked to do more heavy lifting next season after the Reds traded starting pitchers Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon this winter.

Byrd, who has spent the last two seasons predominantly in right field, is expected to shift over to the opposite corner next season.

"No concerns," Jocketty said regarding the defensive switch. "He's a good enough athlete to handle it."

Byrd is the latest casualty of the Phillies' rebuilding efforts, following the move that sent Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers and rumored trade talks involving Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard.

The Phillies stand to save as much as $12 million if Byrd's option vests in 2016.

"The money was a big part of the deal," Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told CSN Philly. "I have to commend our ownership for allowing us to subsidize what we did. We've said all along we'd be willing to do that as a way to gain talent and we did it for a pitcher we think has a high ceiling."

Lively, 22, was the Reds' fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft. The 6-foot-4 right-hander was strong in 26 starts across two minor-league levels this year, pitching to a 3.04 ERA and 10.2 strikeout-per-nine rate in 151 innings. He ranked 12th among the Reds' top 30 prospects, according to Baseball America.