A Bay Area native, Byrnes was drafted out of UCLA in 1998 by his hometown team, the Oakland Athletics. He was named California League Player of the Week for August 24-30, 1998 after earning a .509 on-base percentage in that time. A line-drive hitter with great speed, he stole 20-plus bases in 1998 and 1999 in the minors. Byrnes made visits to the big-club in both 2000 and 2001, banging 12 hits in 48 at-bats, including three homers.
