Could Cameron bring some consistency to the Cubs in 2010?
Per the Chicago Sun-Times , the Chicago Cubs are interested in center fielder Mike Cameron as soon as the Milton Bradley trade goes through.
Cameron, 37, wants to play for a contender, and his connection with former Lou Piniella remains strong.
”I love the guy,” Piniella said. ”Mike is somebody we’ve talked about. I’m looking forward to Sunday, [when team officials meet before] the meetings over in Indianapolis.”
Cameron, the former White Sox farmhand and center fielder, would be a great fit on the North Side. His glove work would be appreciated after Kosuke Fukudome showed his inexperience in center field last season. The addition of Cameron’s defense plus moving Fukudome to back to right field solidifies the Cubs defense in the outfield, even though Alfonso Soriano is in left.
Cameron can also still hit for a little bit of power, as he slugged 24 home runs last season with Milwaukee, and 25 in 2008.
If we project Cameron using FanGraphs valuation tools, we get the following:
| G | 136 |
| AB | 518 |
| PA | 599 |
| H | 128 |
| 1B | 74 |
| 2B | 29 |
| 3B | 2 |
| HR | 23 |
| RBI | 77 |
| R | 74 |
| BB | 68 |
| IBB | 3 |
| SO | 147 |
| HBP | 5 |
| SF | 5 |
| SH | 0 |
| GDP | 11 |
| SB | 9 |
| CS | 5 |
| AVG | 0.247 |
| BB% | 13.1% |
| K% | 28.4% |
| BB/K | 0.46 |
| OBP | 0.341 |
| SLG | 0.444 |
| OPS | 0.785 |
| ISO | 0.197 |
| wRC | |
| wRAA | |
| wOBA | 0.339 |
| Batting | 8.1 |
| Fielding | 8.7 |
| Replacement | 19.96666667 |
| Positional | 2.495833333 |
| RAR | 39.2625 |
| WAR | 3.92625 |
| Dollars | $17.67 |
My projection is based off of his career, and it incorporates some regression in his skills, too. I believe his power stays almost the same, but his strikeouts increase, his speed decreases a little and he may hit the DL for an injury. If he hits these reasonable projections, we see that Cameron is worth about $18M, which is better than what Fukudome produced in 2009.
The only negative is that Cameron isn’t left handed, and that the Cubs will start 7 right handers out of 8 positions. It makes the Cubs helpless vs. tough right handers and could hurt the team if it reaches the playoffs.
The main point, though, is that Cameron is the best on the market, and should be signed for a one-year deal, with an option for 2011. He should only cost about $8-10M, and it’s money well spent. Cameron has been ranked a top 10 free agent by many outlets, but he’s the best center fielder out there. He brings consistency to the position — as right field and center field have been revolving doors for the Cubs for years.
Is this team a better team than 2009? I still don’t believe so. Bradley will be moved to Tampa for Pat Burrell and then flipped to New York for Luis Castillo. Castillo is not better than Felipe Lopez, Orlando Hudson or the platoon of Jeff Baker and Mike Fontenot, but it gives the Cubs a new face, and maybe that’s what the team needs.
Barring any other big moves, this team is still an 83-84 win team right now. Jim Hendry can improve his squad further, but it relies on salary relief. So far, it’s been a successful off-season, and hopefully they can keep it going, and make this team a competitor in 2010.
