Byrnes

Joe Rutter reports the Pirates have asked for him.

As we know from this story, no one knows what the GMs have or have not discussed unless the GMs explicitly tell them so. And they don't often do this. Billy Beane has explained that there are only two people in the whole world who know what he's thinking or planning with trade scenarios, him and his assistant, and that we should regard all reports claiming knowledge that suggests otherwise with suspicion.

That said, this report from Rutter fits with this story of last week. And any Byrnes deal may be hung up for Mike Cameron reasons explained here. The fact that Oakland just signed him means little -- that had to happen, trade or no trade, at this point in the offseason. Since Byrnes's number was close to the number Oakland offered, it looks clear to me that there's not a lot of debate about his value. I doubt he signed for so much or so little that his trade value has changed from what it was in December.

I first entertained the idea of Byrnes here. Other people have advanced the idea, too. I believe there's a pretty long history of Byrnes-to-Pittsburgh speculation dating to at least the Kendall negotiations.