Byrd's In Hand

Be prepared for a lot more of that headline over the next 24 hours.

Paul Byrd is a member of the Red Sox. No word on who the Sox gave up to get him, or even why they did. We can assume it has something to do with the injury to Wakefield and the ineffectiveness of Buchholz, but he can only replace one pitcher in the rotation.

My only memory of Byrd is hating his guts last season, him and his luck-fueled fluke of a 15-win season. And then he went and shut down the Sox in the ALCS, putting us on the brink of elimination.

Still, he's our Byrd now, and he's been pretty good of late. going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last five starts. Not too thrilled by the 17 strikeouts he's posted over that time though. Also, one must wonder how good a guy really is when he cleared almost every other team in baseball.