RSSCameron Delivers Titanic Blow to Bay, Holliday
December 15, 2009
kosmo - See all 763 of my articles
Red Sox sign Mike Cameron, John Lackey
The Red Sox snuck one past me yesterday by signing Mike Cameron to patrol their outfield. I had been under the assumption that the Red Sox would sign either Jason Bay or Matt Holliday to patrol left field, and was a bit stunned to hear of the signing. Cameron is a fine defensive player (a three time gold glove winner), but is a big step down from Bay or Holliday offensively.
Cameron, who will turn 37 in January, is also considerably older than Holliday (who will be 30 in January) or Bay (32 in September). Players tend to lose a step as they age, and their offensive skills tend to erode. So it is pretty likely (almost a certainty) that the Red Sox will get less offense from Cameron than they would from Bay or Holliday. Cameron is a better defender, although defensive range is less important in Fenway Park than in other ballparks because the left field wall is very shallow. The ability to gauge where balls will ricochet off the 37 foot high Green Monster is more important than foot speed.
On the flip side, the two year deal, worth a total of $15.5 million, is a lot less money than Bay or Holliday will command (easily twice that much, and for five or more years.) The Red Sox may have simply decided that it would be more cost effective to upgrade a corner infield sport (with either 3B Adrian Beltre or 1b Adrian Gonzalez). Gonzalez has come into the spotlight a bit in recent years, but Mr. Eyebrows still doesn’t get the respect he deserves. His raw numbers (3 straight 30+ homer season, 40 homers and a .958 OPS in 2009) are impressive. When you stop to think that he plays in a park (Petco) that greatly depresses offense, the numbers are even more amazing. Put him in Fenway, and he’ll win a couple of MVP awards.
The signing is bad news for Bay and Holliday, as it takes a rich suitor off the table. Bay and Holliday will certainly get some serious coin in their deals, but the Cameron deal may end up costing them a couple of million dollars per year.
The Red Sox also shored up their rotation by signing right handed starting pitcher John Lackey. This move makes sense on a number of levels. Other than the cash given to Lackey ($85 million over five years), the marginal acquisition cost was merely a second round pick. The Red Sox had signed Marco Scutaro (another type A free agent) earlier in the offseason, and were thus bound to lose their 2010 1st round pick. Signing Lackey merely means that their 2010 first rounder will go to Anaheim as compensation for losing Lackey, while reducing Oakland’s compensation for Scutaro to a 2nd rounder. Additionally, taking Lackey away from the Angels makes it a bit easier for Boston to get past the Angels, if they were to face them in the playoffs. While Lackey isn’t as flashy as some of the other top pitchers, he’s definitely an ace-caliber guy.
Phillies Acquire Ace, Trade Away Ace
The Phillies made waves by finally ending Roy Halladay’s long twist in the wind by acquiring Doc from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Phillies then turned around and traded their existing ace, Cliff Lee, to the Seattle Mariners. Prospects were the counterweight in both trades. Halladay is a year older than Lee, but has been a more consistent performer over the course of their careers. Additionally, Halladay is righthanded (Lee was a lefty), allowing the Phillies to pair him with Cole Hamels for a righty/lefty combination at the top of their rotation. While the Phillies were able to neutralize teams that were heavily left handed (the Rockies in the NLDS for example) because of the lefty-dominant rotation, having a balance of righty/lefty makes them a bit less susceptible to teams that lean heavily one way or the other.
Sports
Adrian Gonzalez, Baseball, Cliff Lee, Jason Bay, John Lackey, Matt Holliday, Mike Cameron, Roy Halladay