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5 forgotten players who spent time with both the Cubs and Pirates

There's been quite a bit of crossover between these division rivals in recent years.
ByJake Misener|
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3) Jason Kendall

A three-time All-Star and National League Rookie of the Year finalist with the Pirates, Jason Kendall is unquestionably best remembered for his years in the Steel City. A first-round pick out of high school in 1992, the San Diego, CA native made his MLB debut in 1996 and wasted no time establishing himself as one of the game's premier backstops.

In his first five years in the league, Kendall slashed .314/.402/.456 with the Pirates, earning the aforementioned trio of All-Star nods in the process. He piled up 20.0 bWAR during that span, including four-straight years of 4.0+ bWAR from 1997 to 2000. After a couple of relative down years, he re-established himself again as a top-shelf catcher in 2003 and 2004 before getting traded to Oakland.

After two-plus seasons in the green and gold, the Athletics flipped Kendall to the Cubs in 2007 and he appeared in 57 games for Chicago - even making an appearance in the team's NLDS appearance against Arizona. He played three more seasons - two in Milwaukee and one in Kansas City - before calling it quits.

4) Marlon Byrd

Now known as much for his connections to PEDs as the numbers he put up on the field, outfielder Marlon Byrd suffered through some lean years in Wrigleyville, playing for the Cubs from 2010 to 2012 - even earning the only All-Star appearance of his career in his first year with the club.

He played for 10 teams in his 15-year MLB career and accumulated more bWAR in Chicago than with all but one of them: the Phillies, who he played for for five seasons. Byrd played just part of one year with the Pirates - but he made his presence felt on that 2013 team, especially in the postseason, when he slashed a robust .364/.391/.591 in the wild card and divisional rounds.

So if you're ever playing trivia and need a random Cubs' All-Star, this is a solid pull. He put up big-time numbers before the break that year, but really fell off in the second half - as Mike Quade steered a sinking ship into port to close out the campaign.

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