I know Billy Beane (from reading the book Moneyball) and you, Josh Byrnes, are no Billy Beane, sir. For that matter you are not Theo Epstein even though you were his assistant general manager in Boston before joining the Diamondbacks.

When Josh Byrnes came on the scene just four short years ago, his association with the 2004 Red Sox and their general manager Theo Epstein put him in the group of young, up and coming new thinkers in baseball. In August of 2009, he looks more like Dan Duquette than Theo Epstein. Byrnes as a general manager has proven to be more hype than substance for the fiscally focused franchise. In Byrnes’ tenure as general manager the Diamondbacks have gone from National League doormats, to contenders and back to doormats because of contract extensions, managerial hirings, free agent decisions, drafts, trades and injuries. While you can’t blame Byrnes for injuries suffered, you can critique him for his decisions in all the other areas.

While perusing the trades Byrnes has consummated over his three and a half years as Diamondbacks’ general manager, you’ll see mixed results. In his tenure, Byrnes has pulled off three trades that can be filed in the ‘good deal’ file, at least as of right now.

Glaus and Sergio Santos to the Toronto Blue Jays for Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson:

Glaus had injury issues and was named as a performance enhancing user as a member of the Blue Jays. Batista won eleven games in his one-year return to Phoenix while Hudson earned two Gold Gloves and helped the Diamondbacks win a division title in his time with the Snakes.

Javier Vazquez to the White Sox for Orlando Hernandez, Luis Vizcaino and Chris Young:

The Diamondbacks got rid of a malcontent in exchange for two players who contributed in their time with the club. Hernandez didn’t have much impact, but Vizcaino had a 3.58 ERA out of the bullpen in his one season in Sedona red and Chris Young had his first, and possibly only, great season in 2007 following the trade.

Johnny Estrada, Greg Aquino and Claudio Vargas to the Brewers for Doug Davis, Dana Eveland, Dave Krynzel:

An easy win for the Diamondbacks in this trade. Davis has been a solid end of the rotation pitcher for the Diamondbacks since being acquired while Estrada, Aquino and Vargas didn’t accomplish much as members of the Brew Crew.

While Byrnes’ has a handful of good trades under his belt he has more bad trades attached to his name.

Carlos Quentin to White Sox for minor league first baseman Chris Carter
Chris Carter: zero Major League appearances. Carlos Quentin: 47 home runs, 129 RBI, All-Star appearance, Silver Slugger Award and a fifth place AL MVP finish since leaving the Diamondbacks. Enough said.

Dallas Buck, Wilkin Castillo and Micah Owings to Reds for Adam Dunn

While the three players the Diamondbacks traded haven’t accomplished much in Cincinnati, at least they are still part of the organization. Adam Dunn amounted to a rental player that didn’t help the D-Backs win the division or make the playoffs. To top it off the team didn’t offer Dunn arbitration, so they didn’t receive any compensation when he left for free agency.

Scott Hairston to the Padres for Leo Rosales

Not a major trade, but the Padres seemed to get the more beneficial production out of it. Hairston hit 33 home runs and drove in 80 RBI for the Padres in roughly two seasons. Rosales has appeared in forty-five games for the Diamondbacks with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.314 WHIP.

Emillio Bonifacio to Washington for Jon Rauch

Rauch went from closer for the Nationals to only being used in blowouts for the Diamondbacks. While Bonifacio hasn’t been a world beater for the Nationals or the Marlins, he hasn’t cost his teams wins the way Rauch has for Diamondbacks.

You may have noticed some trades that were left off the list. These trades fall in one of two categories; the trade was a wash or it’s too early to tell. The trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Yankees and the deal that sent Jose Valverde to the Astros both fall under the wash category. No one, outside of Luis Vizcaino, has done anything substantial for the Yankees, but Randy Johnson’s return engagement with the D-Backs was less than spectacular as well. Some will say that the Valverde deal should fall in the bad category based on the struggles of the Diamondbacks’ bullpen over the last two seasons. The reason it isn’t is that Valverde missed the entire month of May for the Astros this year and Chad Qualls has been decent as the closer for the Snakes, thus making the deal a wash. The one deal that could still go either way is the Diamondbacks’ trade for Dan Haren. Yes, Haren has been a great pitcher since he was acquired, but he is prone to late-season swoons. Add that to the fact that the D-Backs gave up six highly touted prospects for him, and things get a little murky. If two out of those six prospects become Major League stars, this deal could become a wash. It’s just too early to tell. Two deals consummated this summer, Felipe Lopez to the Milwaukee and Tony Pena to the White Sox are also to early to tell.

If Byrnes’ trade history isn’t enough to make you question his prowess as a Major League general manager, then how about the contract extensions he’s presided over. Since May of 2006, Byrnes has tied up $98.5 million dollars in salary between Chris Young (5-years, $28 M), Eric Byrnes (3-years, $30 M), Chris Snyder (3-years, $14.25 M) and Chad Tracy (3-years, $13.25 M). For that $98.5 million in salary Byrnes has been rewarded with a combined .238 batting average with 86 home runs, 361 RBI in 2,861 plate appearances. Not to mention in that same time he has given a contract extension to manager Bob Melvin, fired him, and replaced him with the unproven AJ Hinch, who was given a four-year contract.

“But what about the young talent that is on the Diamondbacks roster. Byrnes deserves credit for that doesn’t he?”, you ask. Well you can thank a combination of Mike Rizzo and Joe Garagiola Jr. for most of that talent. Miguel Montero (signed 2001), Chris Snyder (drafted 2002), Conor Jackson (drafted 2003), Gerardo Parra (signed 2004), Stephen Drew (drafted 2004), Mark Reynolds (drafted 2004) and Justin Upton (drafted 2005), all were part of the organization before Byrnes’ arrival in October of 2005.

Without even looking at the talent Byrnes has let leave via free agency, it becomes abundantly clear that his reputation is built of about the same material as Milli Vanilli’s was. This isn’t to say that he and the Diamondbacks front office staff can’t turn around the franchise’s fortunes but it does prove that fans and those in the media shouldn’t buy the hype. Byrnes has a large task ahead of him, one that if he completes successfully will prove his mettle as a general manager. Then, and only then, will he be able to be considered one of the games new age thinkers and as a great GM. Too bad he’ll be too old to be considered a boy wonder.