As rumored earlier today, Marlon Byrd has indeed been traded to the Boston Red Sox, though the details of the trade won’t be announced until after the Red Sox game (currently in the 5th) ends.
The Cubs will likely go with a combination of Tony Campana, Reed Johnson and Joe Mather in center field for the time being, and then possibly call up Brett Jackson later this year.
I’ll have thoughts on the Marlon Byrd Era later, but the short of it is: super great guy, solid teammate, decent player for half his time here, and parts of his game will be missed. But he was out the door at some point this year anyway, so, although his value probably has never been lower, now’s as good a time as any other to pull the trigger. A few hot weeks weren’t really going to reclaim any value.
UPDATE: WEEI’s Alex Speier says the Cubs are getting reliever Michael Bowden, as I guessed earlier, plus a player to be named later (insert Theo compensation joke here). The Cubs are reportedly paying most of Byrd’s remaining salary, which could be reasonable, depending on the PTBNL, and the definition of the word “most.”
More analysis of the trade later, as it becomes finalized.