I had a really grand article planned for today, but due to the craziness that is my life, I wasn’t able to get it together in time. Since it was going to be on the upcoming Yankee-Red Sox series, it’s not something that I will be able to run next week. I guess I’ll just have to wait until their next in June.
Anyway, I was perusing Peter Abraham’s latest Extra Bases post at the Boston Globe, and I came across this intriguing statement about Mike Cameron.
“The expectation was he would have a big role. But the veteran has only 37 at-bats and hasn’t done much (.162) with those. Might as well trade him.”
It’s hard to disagree with Abraham. Back in March, I wrote an article about Cameron discussing his situation/role with the team, and detailing potential trade destinations should the Red Sox decide to deal him. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that the Red Sox should probably hold on to him for the time. Considering his versatility and handedness (right-handed amidst a sea of lefty outfielders) at the plate, he looked like a great bet to accumulate 350-400 plate appearances. When Francona gave Cameron the nod to start on Opening Day (over J.D. Drew) against the left-handed C.J. Wilson, this only solidified my opinion. Cameron was going be an integral part of the Red Sox’s strategy to neutralize the effect on left-handed pitching on their lefty dominated lineup.
Apparently, I was wrong—very, very wrong. Through 37 games, Cameron’s only received 40 plate appearances, and has largely split the fourth outfielder role with the replacement level Darnell McDonald. While he’s been rather ineffective thus far at the plate (.162/.205/.324), much of that is due to small sample size variance, so we shouldn’t take too much from it. Chances are, with enough plate appearances, Cameron will regress back to the .250/.340/.450 hitter he’s been his entire career.
So what is the Red Sox plan for him? Unlike Abraham, I’m not convinced they should trade him at this point. Look at the options. If someone (say, J.D. Drew) pulls a hamstring or strains his lower back, thus forcing him to miss 20-25 games, do you really think the Red Sox want McDonald trotting out to right field every day? I don’t. Despite his performance last season, McDonald is not a fourth outfield solution on a (theoretical) championship level club. In fact, I’m not sure he’s even worthy of holding down the fifth slot. He’s nothing more than a classic replacement level player who adds very little in the way of value. Plus, with Ryan Kalish on the shelf for an undetermined amount of time with a potentially severe shoulder injury, and Josh Reddick not quite good enough to play every day at the major league level, it’s not like the Red Sox have a lot of good options in AAA to soak up plate appearances. (Also, both Kalish and Reddick are lefties, so their addition to the roster wouldn’t help the lefty-heavy situation in the outfield.)
The only way the Red Sox could realistically move Cameron is if they were able to work a trade (or a series of trades) that would land them another productive right-handed outfielder in return. To be fair, I don’t see how that helps them unless the player they receive in return is younger, cheaper, and under team control for the next few years. That’s a pretty unlikely proposing considering Cameron’s age and his current salary.
At this point, the best move for the Sox is to stand pat. Hopefully, they’ll start giving Cameron more plate appearances. He’s still a very talented player who’s historically killed lefties. By using him similarly to the way they used Jed Lowrie early in the season, they might find that they’re able to not only neutralize, but also have greater levels of success against left-handed pitching.