Yes We Cam

[bignick33]

Mike Cameron and Sox agree to terms after Bay turned down 4/60. They have upgraded at defense at two positions already and are poised to upgrade at a third (3B). He's certainly not young.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2009/12/next_up_for_red.html

[BCEagle74]

Cameron is in great shape.
Cam is better than Damon.
Cam is very durable. 11-12 years over 120 games and 10-12 over 140!

Cam could ahve a career year at Fenway since he strikes out a lot and hit high flies into the monster like Rico Petrocelli. Ken Harrelson type of .240 -- 35 --- 110 type of season.

If the Bosox were not going to sign Bay, this guy was a nice move.

Nice staff, and plenty of ammo left for Adrian Gonzalez.

SD should make Boston give up the top 2 and one other nice prospect, but it would be worth it for a 8 year All Star and Raffy Palmerio (no juice)/Tex type, but Gonz will be a FA in 2011.

Theo is assertive, getting much smarter and if he snares the Kooba Kid and Gonzo, that would make 2 super teams and the Yankees would need to match with more newclear weapons like Bay and Pinero.

Money talks and bullshit walks and Bos and NY have $$$$ but Theo gets an A+ if he gets Gonz, so far he is spectacular.

Perfect age, explosive stats in worst hitting ballpark in Majors. Great defense.

The GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Padres, etc..they must be like kids with thei faces pressed against a Candy Store window and no change.

Yet another ex-Texas Ranger All star 1B--Raffy, Tex, Gonz, Pena, etc...seen them all.

[claver2010]

$8 mill/year for an OF who is going to be 37 and for the last 4 years is: .251, 23, 75?

I'm going to raise my kids to be baseball players

[buconvict]

$8 mill/year for an OF who is going to be 37 and for the last 4 years is: .251, 23, 75?

I'm going to raise my kids to be baseball players

Just make sure they are generationally elite fielders, excellent baserunners, and mash lefties to the tune of a .900+ OPS.

[cvilleagle]

If they still manage to get Gonzalez, this is going to be a very good lineup to go with maybe the best staff in the majors. But do they have any middle relievers?

[buconvict]

I have to confess, when I saw the title of thread I thought it was going to be some sort of Obama-Cam that HustlinOwl fondles himself to. NTTAWWT.

[claver2010]

$8 mill/year for an OF who is going to be 37 and for the last 4 years is: .251, 23, 75?

I'm going to raise my kids to be baseball players

Just make sure they are generationally elite fielders, excellent baserunners, and mash lefties to the tune of a .900+ OPS.

Sure 5 years ago he was an elite fielder but is he still at 37? I don't know I haven't watched him in a couple of years, he's going to be playing a new position. Excellent baserunner? He also mashed lefties to a tune of .271, but I know BA is obsolete to pink hat nation. Just don't think he's worth $16 mill/2 for when he is 37 & 38.

[buconvict]

$8 mill/year for an OF who is going to be 37 and for the last 4 years is: .251, 23, 75?

I'm going to raise my kids to be baseball players

Just make sure they are generationally elite fielders, excellent baserunners, and mash lefties to the tune of a .900+ OPS.

Sure 5 years ago he was an elite fielder but is he still at 37? I don't know I haven't watched him in a couple of years, he's going to be playing a new position. Excellent baserunner? He also mashed lefties to a tune of .271, but I know BA is obsolete to pink hat nation. Just don't think he's worth $16 mill/2 for when he is 37 & 38.

His defense is still elite.

He is an excellent baserunner. Just like JD Drew (though Johnny Burger King would never notice because he doesn't dive into bases).

You're right, OPS is a stupid stat. Getting on base and getting extra base hits is dumb. Better to hit 160 singles per year and win the batting title like Nomar Garciaparra used to do.

He is absolutely worth the contract he received.

[b0mberMan]

The money involved in a contract really isn't something to worry too much about when you're a team like the Sox. What's more important to consider is the length of the commitments they make in their contracts. They're the Red Sox. They don't have an endless supply of money like the Yankees, but they have the ability to spend a lot of money each year.

What would get them into trouble is signing players to the 6 and 7 year deals that the Yanks are known to ink. That creates a lot of commitment long term and hinders flexibility. You can't trade out of those contracts because who in the league can take on those commitments? The Sox could eat some of the contract, but that's really hard to do if you trying to trade a guy's final 2 or 3 years away.

Most Sox long term contracts are for 4 years - 5 if it's a guy they really want. Paying 8 mil for Cameron isn't really a big deal. It's a two year deal. It's something they can eat if he turns out to be absolutely terrible (but I'm with BUC in saying he's a value add right now).

[McDeere's Bombardier]

$8 mill/year for an OF who is going to be 37 and for the last 4 years is: .251, 23, 75?

I'm going to raise my kids to be baseball players

Agreed. The Yankees just agreed to pay $11M for a P who is 37 and has averaged a 4.25 ERA and 14 wins over the last four years. I'm guessing there is some sentimentality that attaches to the "core four", but I think the Yankees paid a bit too much for a guy who wasn't exactly about to bolt to another team.