Byrnes and A's agree

Old news, but still important: The A's announced on Friday that they had agreed to a one-year deal with Eric Byrnes for the amount of 2.2 Million. This was pretty smack-dab in the middle of the two sides as the A's offered 2 million and Byrnes asked for 2.5. He also has some performance and trade bonuses in his contract; and a trade equals 25k extra.

But that's not important; what is important is that the A's would have had to go to arbitration with Byrnes on February 17th. Because of the gap of time between the agreement and the, now-defunct, arbitration date, the A's are able to complete a deal for him far easier. You see, if you trade for an arbitration-eligible player, you are almost guaranteed to lose in a hearing. Case in point, AJ Pierzynski.

Byrnes is a goner; the A's just packed his bags.

Update: Well the D'Backs made their trade for Jose Cruz Jr. Now, I could retract my whole deal of Byrnes being gone, but I won't. Fact is, there are two other teams that could want Byrnes: Houston and Pittsburgh. Though I would be a fool for saying this news doesn't hurt Byrnes chances of going.