Red Sox acquire Paul Byrd

August 12, 2008 at 4:00 PM

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The Boston Red Sox today acquired pitcher Paul Byrd from the Cleveland Indians, a sign that the Red Sox will likely demote Clay Buchholz to Triple-A.

Byrd, 37, will be a free agent after the year and is 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA on the season. He has been a steady and consistent starter through most of his career and has a 4.37 career ERA. He also made the All-Star team in 1999 then went through a rough patch before reestablishing himself in 2002. In exchange for Byrd, the Red Sox will send either cash or a player to be named to the Indians.

One interesting part to Byrd is his use of an old-fashioned windup, where he swings his arms back before winding up. I always liked that about his pitching style. Byrd is a devout Christian who is also addicted to pornography. (Interesting.)

He was also embroiled in the performance enhancing drugs controversy, having been accused of using HGH the day before he was slated to start against the Red Sox in the ALCS (five innings, two runs, a win to send Cleveland to a 3-1 series lead). Byrd said he used HGH to treat a tumor on his pituitary gland, but other happenings have called the validity of this into question.

Byrd should be a nice, veteran addition to a staff who is proving to the world that there is no such thing as too much starting pitching.

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Discussion

18 Comments on "Red Sox acquire Paul Byrd"

Posted by Mostly Running., August 12, 2008 4:01 PM

This is not a good PR move considering Theo's past associations with the Mitchell report.

Posted by Samara Pearlstein, August 12, 2008 4:09 PM

//Byrd is a devout Christian who is also addicted to pornography. //

lol whut

Posted by Sean O, August 12, 2008 4:42 PM

Well, I was wondering how well the Byrd book signing would go on Sept. 23 at the Barnes and Noble in back bay, guess this'll make it easier.

And I guess I just plugged B&N for some reason. Yay.

Posted by Tessie's Dad, August 12, 2008 4:54 PM

Will he be signing his own book, or the October Penthouse?

Posted by Joe, August 12, 2008 4:55 PM

I'm 99% certain that the story of Byrd's HGH use broke the day of Game Seven of the LCS, not the day before his start.

Unrelated I like this. Seems like we give up nothing to get him and he at least provides some insurance if the decision is to send Buchholz back to AAA or if Zink doesn't cut it as Wake's replacement. He's not great but he doesn't suck either.

Posted by Bay's Dad, August 12, 2008 5:00 PM

What associations with the Mitchell Report? That he actually investigated the steroids history of the players before acquiring them? But I agree, I don't like Paul Byrd's history of HGH use. This makes us no better than the Yankees.

Posted by Bob, August 12, 2008 5:24 PM

Feh. Honestly I'd rather ride it out with Bucholz than try and root for this hypocrite. This also means I can no longer make jokes about Giambi's steroid use without looking like a hypocrite myself.

Posted by JaredK, August 12, 2008 5:26 PM

Christianity and porn...from the Mark Chmura school of hypocrisy. I saw he has a miniscule era since the AS break, something like 1.24.

Anyone know his contract status? I am too lazy to look it up. Not a bad pick-up but I am hoping this is a 2 month relationship

Posted by Bay's Dad, August 12, 2008 6:00 PM

I hope Byrd gets a win in every remaining series with have with the Yankees. That will BEGIN to be payback for all the years they beat us with half their team on steroids.

#10

Posted by Mostly Running., August 12, 2008 6:15 PM

Yeah Bay's Dad, I was just referring to Theo's willingness to overlook "past" transgressions and go with guys with tainted pasts. No big deal really, it will probably just cost the team money to have him, but as a fan I'd prefer to stay away from guys like Byrd and Gagne, especially when it's known that Theo doesn't miss a beat when it comes to a player's past.

#11

Posted by Byrd's Contract, August 12, 2008 6:17 PM

I read somewhere that he will be a FA at the end of this season, so the Sox aren't stuck with him long-term.

#12

Posted by Paul Byrd acquired by Boston Red Sox: In Entertainment, August 12, 2008 6:24 PM

[...] Source [...]

#13

Posted by Troy, August 12, 2008 6:29 PM

Welcome to the Nation Byrd.

#14

Posted by Troy, August 12, 2008 6:38 PM

PED's Overrated.

#15

Posted by jvwalt, August 12, 2008 7:01 PM

He is a free agent at year's end. Ethics aside, it's a good insurance move, given the recent fraying at the back end of the rotation. It's a sign that the front office has major concerns about (a) Buchholz' ability to get straightened out, (b) Colon's ability to come back, and/or (c) Wakefield's health.

Of course, Cleveland will get a PTBNL; I hope it's none of our top prospects. If Byrd was available for a bargain price, I'm really surprised the Yankees didn't bite. Given their rotation woes, I can only conclude that Cashman has run up the white flag on 2008.

#16

Posted by Sam, August 12, 2008 9:31 PM

"Byrd is a devout Christian who is also addicted to pornography. (Interesting.)"

Waaaaaaaait a minute lol ... not saying there aren't Christians who have problems with porn ... but me being a Christian has me wondering ... why are those two little "random" morsels of information in the same sentence together? Hmmmm...

That aside ... not a bad pick up IMO ... whatever your opinion on his apparent history with roids ... he's still a decent pitcher who could eat a few innings for us ... which is kinda what we need right now with Buch struggling to make it deep into games and Wake (THE inning eater) down for a bit ... sounds good to me ... let's just hope we don't need him for long

#17

Posted by Jay in NH, August 13, 2008 3:57 PM

The HGH incident was overblown and was prescribed by a doctor. He was cleared by a addendum to the Mitchell report.

Anyone wonder why home run production is so low this year? Maybe the HGH and steroid use was more prevelent than anyone thought.????

Speaking of Porn.....Buchholz,is currently dating Erica Ellyson, your 2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year.

#18

Posted by Jay in NH, August 13, 2008 3:58 PM

Paul (don't call me Larry) Byrd