Phillies Former OFer Marlon Byrd Suspended 162 Games
By Matt Veasey
A former Philadelphia Phillies draftee and player has received a one-year suspension from Major League Baseball.
Marlon Byrd, who was a Phillies draftee and a player with the big club over two different stints, has been suspended by Major League Baseball for a 2nd positive PED test result.
JUST IN: the #Indians Marlon Byrd has been suspended 162 games for his 2nd PED suspension
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 1, 2016
(via @Ken_Rosenthal) pic.twitter.com/ARTZGsdlQw
Byrd was previously suspended for 50 games during the 2012 season, which he split between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox.
Byrd was the Phillies 10th round pick in the 1999 MLB Amateur Draft out of college in his home state of Georgia.
He shot quickly through the Phillies system with successful full seasons at High-A Piedmont in 2000, AA Reading in 2001, and finally AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre in the 2002 season.
Byrd received a cup of coffee with the Phillies during that 2002 season, and then became a full-time starter in center field for the big league club in 2003 in the first of what would become nine consecutive winning seasons.
Byrd finished 4th in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting following that 2003 season in which he hit for a .303/..366/.418 slash line with seven homers, 45 RBI, 86 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases.
In May of 2005, the Phillies dealt Byrd away to the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder Endy Chavez.
A free agent following the 2006 season, Byrd signed with the Texas Rangers. He spent the next three seasons as a valuable and versatile performer with the Rangers, who used him all across the outfield.
Following the 2009 season, Byrd again became a free agent, this time signing with the Cubs. In April of 2012 he was dealt to the Red Sox, who released him in June following his first suspension.
He would bounce around over the next couple of years, from the New York Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and finally back to the Phillies, who signed him as a free agent in November of 2013.
Byrd had a solid 2014 season back with the Phils at age 36, hitting .264 with 25 homers and 85 RBI. Following that season as part of the publicly announced rebuilding program, the Phillies dealt Byrd to Cincinnati in exchange for pitcher Ben Lively.
Byrd then split last season with the Reds and San Francisco Giants, and was with Terry Francona and the Cleveland Indians at the time of this latest announced suspension.
During his career, Byrd has made more than $38 million, with the Phils paying half of his $8 million salary a year ago.
Should Byrd return to the game next season and test positive again, it would mean a lifetime ban from the game. He will turn 39-years old in August, so there is no telling whether he will make such a comeback.