Mike Cameron

[KatJ]

I would imagine that Cameron might be available. Say we get an impact bat for RF. Would you take Cameron in center until Pie is ready? He strikes out a lot, but will take some walks (.340 career OBP, Ruth compared to some Cubs hitters) and plays a fantastic CF. He had an .819 OPS last season playing in Shea, managing to hit 12 HRs in 308 ABs. I realize that improving our offense is priority to number 1, but given the CFs available, I think Cameron would be a good fit. Thoughts?

 

I haven't read the zillion other responses, but here's mine anyway. I think Cammy is a GREAT guy and a terrific fielder, and if you want another feast-or-famine whiff king, by all means he should be a Cub this year.

 

My opinion is the Cubs are better off saving $4 mil and keeping Patterson. Even if he isn't re-tooled swing-wise, he'll give you Cammy's range on offense and defense while being scads cheaper.

 

That said, as of this writing, I'd rather see Murton in CF than either of them.

[RockTheIvy]

I would imagine that Cameron might be available. Say we get an impact bat for RF. Would you take Cameron in center until Pie is ready? He strikes out a lot, but will take some walks (.340 career OBP, Ruth compared to some Cubs hitters) and plays a fantastic CF. He had an .819 OPS last season playing in Shea, managing to hit 12 HRs in 308 ABs. I realize that improving our offense is priority to number 1, but given the CFs available, I think Cameron would be a good fit. Thoughts?

 

I haven't read the zillion other responses, but here's mine anyway. I think Cammy is a GREAT guy and a terrific fielder, and if you want another feast-or-famine whiff king, by all means he should be a Cub this year.

 

My opinion is the Cubs are better off saving $4 mil and keeping Patterson. Even if he isn't re-tooled swing-wise, he'll give you Cammy's range on offense and defense while being scads cheaper.

 

That said, as of this writing, I'd rather see Murton in CF than either of them.

 

The difference between Patterson and Cameron, who both strike out a lot, is that Cameron works counts and will walk. He has shown the ability to keep his OBP above .340. He is by no means Adam Dunn, but his strikeouts aren't necessarily hurting him. Add to the fact that he had an OPS over .800 and can play a ridiculous CF, I'd say if the Cubs aren't gonna use that 4 million anywhere else, why not use it and improve the outfield, both offensively and defensively.

[mg420]

i would rather have lofton than cameron. he's a lefty and can lead off. cameron's #'s dont impress me at all.

[goonys evil twin]

i would rather have lofton than cameron. he's a lefty and can lead off. cameron's #'s dont impress me at all.

 

Cameron is an everyday CF with a good glove, Lofton is a platoon player who can't play defense anymore.

[mg420]

i would rather have lofton than cameron. he's a lefty and can lead off. cameron's #'s dont impress me at all.

 

Cameron is an everyday CF with a good glove, Lofton is a platoon player who can't play defense anymore.

 

what does cameron have to offer except defense? is it his lifetime obp of .340 , his lifetime slugging of .442 or his lifetime ba of .249 that makes him worth 7 mil a year? talk about a horrendous contract! i would take a platoon of jhjr & lofton over cameron any day.

[JeffH]

is it his lifetime obp of .340 , his lifetime slugging of .442 or his lifetime ba of .249 that makes him worth 7 mil a year? talk about a horrendous contract!

 

An OPS of .782 combined with Gold Glove defense in CF for $7 is a horrendous contract?

 

Did I just time travel back several years?

[goonys evil twin]

i would rather have lofton than cameron. he's a lefty and can lead off. cameron's #'s dont impress me at all.

 

Cameron is an everyday CF with a good glove, Lofton is a platoon player who can't play defense anymore.

 

what does cameron have to offer except defense? is it his lifetime obp of .340 , his lifetime slugging of .442 or his lifetime ba of .249 that makes him worth 7 mil a year? talk about a horrendous contract! i would take a platoon of jhjr & lofton over cameron any day.

 

I think Cameron may be a little overpriced, but he's only got one year, left, so you can't say he's got a horrendous contract. He is not good in the OBP department, but he isn't a drag either, and in CF he'd be an enormous OBP improvement over 2005. He is by no means a top target in my book, but he's perfectly suitable to fill-in at CF for the season. I think Lofton is likely to fall back to the .340-.350 range for OBP in 2006, at his age and with his flukish resurgence in AVG last season. If they went big in RF and pitching, then I don't think Lofton/Hairston would be an awful idea, on the cheap, but neither comes close to Cameron's defense and I think his overall production will be greater than the two of them combined.

 

 

*Oh, and according to the information I see, Cameron makes $6m in 2006, not $7m.

[mg420]

i would rather have lofton than cameron. he's a lefty and can lead off. cameron's #'s dont impress me at all.

 

Cameron is an everyday CF with a good glove, Lofton is a platoon player who can't play defense anymore.

 

what does cameron have to offer except defense? is it his lifetime obp of .340 , his lifetime slugging of .442 or his lifetime ba of .249 that makes him worth 7 mil a year? talk about a horrendous contract! i would take a platoon of jhjr & lofton over cameron any day.

 

I think Cameron may be a little overpriced, but he's only got one year, left, so you can't say he's got a horrendous contract. He is not good in the OBP department, but he isn't a drag either, and in CF he'd be an enormous OBP improvement over 2005. He is by no means a top target in my book, but he's perfectly suitable to fill-in at CF for the season. I think Lofton is likely to fall back to the .340-.350 range for OBP in 2006, at his age and with his flukish resurgence in AVG last season. If they went big in RF and pitching, then I don't think Lofton/Hairston would be an awful idea, on the cheap, but neither comes close to Cameron's defense and I think his overall production will be greater than the two of them combined.

 

 

*Oh, and according to the information I see, Cameron makes $6m in 2006, not $7m.

 

for that kind of $ they might as well go after damon. he's not as good on defense but at least he can lead off. has lofton's defense fallen that much since he was with the cubs? i seem to remeber him as being very good on d. here is the salary info i was quoting:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5492

[goonys evil twin]

for that kind of $ they might as well go after damon. he's not as good on defense but at least he can lead off. has lofton's defense fallen that much since he was with the cubs? i seem to remeber him as being very good on d. here is the salary info i was quoting:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5492

 

Lofton was brought to the Yankees to help smooth the transition of Bernie out of CF, but Lofton was awful out there. He is not good defensively anymore.

 

1 year at $6m for Cameron does not come close to the money that Damon will reportedly get. It's a very weak comparison.

 

Cameron got a $3m signing bonus, and there is a $7m club option for 2007, with a $0.5m buyout. According to this site (I've found that site to be much better than ESPN when talking about contracts) his salary in 2005 and 2006 is $6m. Regardless, whether you call it $6m, $6.5m (counting the '07 buyout) or $7m, he's not terribly overpaid, and it's only 1 year, not the 4-5 Damon will get, and not anything close to a bad contract.

[mg420]

for that kind of $ they might as well go after damon. he's not as good on defense but at least he can lead off. has lofton's defense fallen that much since he was with the cubs? i seem to remeber him as being very good on d. here is the salary info i was quoting:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5492

 

Lofton was brought to the Yankees to help smooth the transition of Bernie out of CF, but Lofton was awful out there. He is not good defensively anymore.

 

1 year at $6m for Cameron does not come close to the money that Damon will reportedly get. It's a very weak comparison.

 

Cameron got a $3m signing bonus, and there is a $7m club option for 2007, with a $0.5m buyout. According to this site (I've found that site to be much better than ESPN when talking about contracts) his salary in 2005 and 2006 is $6m. Regardless, whether you call it $6m, $6.5m (counting the '07 buyout) or $7m, he's not terribly overpaid, and it's only 1 year, not the 4-5 Damon will get, and not anything close to a bad contract.

 

its not a comparision but a preference based on need. what damon wants is pure speculation. look at what walker signed for to play for the cubs when other teams offered more years and more $. that said, 1 year of cameron would be an overpriced stop gap and the cubs might be in the same postion next year if pie isnt ready to take over. who knows how the collision will affect his health & play in 2006 (and the cubs would still need a leadoff hitter too if cameron played cf).

[AAApittsburgh]

for that kind of $ they might as well go after damon. he's not as good on defense but at least he can lead off. has lofton's defense fallen that much since he was with the cubs? i seem to remeber him as being very good on d. here is the salary info i was quoting:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5492

 

Lofton was brought to the Yankees to help smooth the transition of Bernie out of CF, but Lofton was awful out there. He is not good defensively anymore.

 

1 year at $6m for Cameron does not come close to the money that Damon will reportedly get. It's a very weak comparison.

 

Cameron got a $3m signing bonus, and there is a $7m club option for 2007, with a $0.5m buyout. According to this site (I've found that site to be much better than ESPN when talking about contracts) his salary in 2005 and 2006 is $6m. Regardless, whether you call it $6m, $6.5m (counting the '07 buyout) or $7m, he's not terribly overpaid, and it's only 1 year, not the 4-5 Damon will get, and not anything close to a bad contract.

 

its not a comparision but a preference based on need. what damon wants is pure speculation. look at what walker signed for to play for the cubs when other teams offered more years and more $. that said, 1 year of cameron would be an overpriced stop gap and the cubs might be in the same postion next year if pie isnt ready to take over. who knows how the collision will affect his health & play in 2006 (and the cubs would still need a leadoff hitter too if cameron played cf).

I think the Cubs will get their leadoff hitter in Furcal anyway. Seems kind of redundant to have 2 players like that on the team. Damon's career OBP isn't much better than Cameron's career OBP. I could definitely see him falling back to his career numbers after he leaves the Red Sox and signs a big contract. He's just not the type of player who is worth that kind of money. Also, Boras is his agent. He's not taking a discount to play for the Cubs.