Upon Barrett's return to the MLB in , he ranked among the top offensive rookies in various statistical categories. Barrett failed to stay healthy during the season, which prompted the Expos to trade him to the Oakland Athletics, who in turn, traded him to the Chicago Cubs. During his tenure with the Cubs, Barrett won a Silver Slugger Award in , and recorded near career-high statistics in season. The Cubs traded Barrett to the San Diego Padres in June of . Barrett sustained two major injuries, which caused him to miss 115 games with the Padres, and was subsequently released after the season. Barrett attempted to make a comeback with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009, but continued to struggle with injury issues, which led to his release in the subsequent offseason. He spent the second half of the 2010 season in the New York Mets minor league system. Barrett was also a volunteer assistant coach for the baseball team at the University of North Georgia.