Throwback Thursday: Comparing the Phillies’ Byrd Trades of 2005 and 2014

Byrd first began to show signs of offensive development in his first season with the Texas Rangers in 2007, when he hit 10 home runs and delivered 70 runs batted in. His season with the Phillies in 2014 was amongst his best, as he hit 25 home runs along with 85 runs batted in within a lineup which largely was not feared by opposing pitchers.

While Lively is an intruging return for Byrd, he isn't the only player the Phils have ever received in exchange him. On May 14, 2005, he was traded to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Endy Chavez. The trade largely occured, according to general manager Ed Wade, so that Byrd could "go and re-establish himself somewhere else."

 

Stephen Miller of The Morning Call wrote his opinion of the Chavez acquisition at the time of the trade:

Chavez, a 27-year-old who was at Triple-A New Orleans at the time of the trade, was acquired to add flexibility to the Phillies' bench. He is a lefty who can play all three outfield positions and steal a base.

Chavez hit .277 and stole 32 bases in 132 games as the full-time center fielder when the Nationals were the Montreal Expos last season. He began this season at New Orleans but was recalled on May 4. He hit .222 in seven games with Washington before being sent back to New Orleans on May 11.

With the Phillies in 2005, Chavez hit .215 with three doubles and three triples, however he lacked power with zero home runs and just 10 runs batted in. For a player largely considered to be a threat on the base paths, he stole just two bases with a .243 on-base percentage. Fielding-wise, Chavez saw every position in the outfield, with most of his playing time in center field. He committed only one error in 185 innings of work, with 45 putouts and 4 assists.

Granted free-agency by the Phillies in December of 2005, he soon signed with the Mets for the 2006 season where he would eventually appear in a total of 10 postseason games (three against the Dodgers and seven against the St. Louis Cardinals), hitting for a .229 batting average with two doubles.

The once Royal (2001) and Expo/National (2002-2005) prior to joining the Phillies, and with the Mets (2006-2008), Mariners (2009, 2013-2014), Rangers (2011) and Orioles (2012), Chavez too has 13 seasons of playing experience under his belt like Byrd. He has a respectable .270 career batting average, and has a stolen base success rate of 71.62%.

It is interesting to see the different returns the Phillies received for Byrd amongst the relatively large span of years, from struggling at age 27 to being a valuable power-asset nine years later at age 36. Time will tell how Lively develops and how effectively he contributes with the Major League Club.

The Byrd-for-Lively swap is a prime example why the Phillies signing veterans this offseason (such as the rumored Aaron Harang and Wandy Rodriguez deals) is not a bad idea when looking to build for the future. They can be easily flipped for prospects by the July 31st trade deadline, or even the August 31st waiver deadline. Nothing is guaranteed with any prospect received in a trade, however the Phillies have nothing to lose if they need innings-eaters on the mound to buy time before players like Aaron Nola and Jessie Biddle are ready to go.

Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.