Marlon Byrd has resurrected his career by hitting .280 with 17 homers and an .832 OPS in 91 games for the Mets, who continue to say that they won’t trade the 35-year-old impending free agent unless they get blown away with an offer.
Whether or not you actually believe that is one thing, but it’s also worth noting that Byrd was just about ready to call it a career back in spring training. He was trying to make the Mets on a minor-league contract and more or less vowed to retire if he failed, saying:
I kind of look at it as a last chance. If I don’t make this team, I don’t see many other chances in baseball. That’s the way I’m playing, like it is my last chance.
Five months later he’s having the best season of his career and the Mets are debating whether trade offers for him are big enough.