I Said Sign Johnny Damon

You could have had Johnny Damon in left for Mike Cameron money. Instead, all the Sports Juke readers were haters against the idea. I wanted JD back more than anything, but now we are stuck with an injury prone 37 year old.

Cameron is out AGAIN with an injury, an abdomen issue. JD on the flipside has played in 50 games thus far, checking in at .275. His numbers are a bit skewed, and most certainly will come back up. In April, Damon hit .329. So let's expect the former Sox outfielder to hit close to .300. In 16 games this year, Cameron has 2 RBI. Don't expect those numbers to climb much in the coming weeks, as these nagging injuries continue to stay with Cameron.

Mike Cameron may hit for more power, and play better defense, but the fact that he can't stay on the field is a big problem going forward. Why should we have expected Cameron to play 160 games? His track record is poor to say the least. In 2008 he only played in 120 games and in 2005 only 76. He has played only 150 games once since 2003, and that was in 2007. Damon, on the otherhand, has played more than 141 games every season since 1996. Now that spells stability.

Cameron's on the wrong side of 30, he can't stay on the field, can't hit for average, and has provided squat for Boston so far. Just think, if we had Johnny Damon in left, we would have never have met Darnell McDonald.

Damon Better Than Cameron

Johnny Damon is better than Mike Cameron. The Red Sox made a mistake. The Red Sox signed Cameron to play centerfield for two years, but they should have kept Jacoby Ellsbury in centerfield while signing Damon to play left. I wish the Sox could turn back the clock and sign Damon instead of Cameron.

Damon is 8 months younger than Mike Cameron. Let's start with that right there. The Red Sox were concerned about Damon's age when they let him go to the Yankees. Unfortunately, Damon was a huge piece to the Yankees puzzle, and let's admit it, the Sox miscalculated. The leftfielder played over 140 games every year for the Yankees, a pretty good feat for a team that had a wealth of outfielders. Cameron has played only 140 games in three of the previous four seasons. In 2008, Cameron only played 120 games. Five years ago, when Cameron was in his prime, he played only 76 games. Boston values games played, yet they go with somebody who plays fewer games. The Sox are counting on Cameron to play most of the season in centerfield, yet that seems like a tall task for a guy who plays less than Damon.

The next big reason the Sox should have chosen Damon over Cameron is because of the bat. Damon is far superior at the plate, and is recently coming off one of his best years. Last year in pinstripes, he matched his career high by belting 24 homers. His high with Boston was only 20! He also knocked in 82 runs, scored 107, and smacked 36 doubles. Damon was quite impressive.

On the flip side, Cameron hit .250 (his highest average since 2006 sadly) and struck out 156 times(Damon only struck out 98 times). Maybe Cameron has better wheels than Damon? Well, maybe not. Cameron had 7 stolen bases compared to Damon's 12. Cameron had the same number of homers as Damon, but he had less doubles, hits, runs and RBI. Damon is the far superior hitter.

The only thing Cameron has more of than Damon is the glove. But, when he is hitting .242 come June, and has struck out 100 times, than won't you wish the Sox had signed Damon to play in the outfield? When Cameron is on the injured list, and reliable Damon is playing, won't you be upset?

The Sox made a mistake. Hopefully Damon will wind up somewhere outside of the AL East; that way we won't have to see firsthand how big of a mistake the Sox actually made.

Mets On An Island With Bay

The NY Mets are apparently bidding against themselves now in the battle for Jason Bay. They have offered him 4 years and $65 million, yet nobody else seems to be in the running for the left field slugger. My question is simple: would the Sox ever extend their offer to match the Mets offer? How come the Sox can't still be in the Bay running? I understand that they have recently commited over $80 million to John Lackey, and $15 million to Mike Cameron, but why can't they spend another $60 on Bay? By $155 million, the Sox could seal up their cleanup hitter, front of the line starter, and 4th outfielder/DH.

If there was something to be learned from the Yankees last year, it is to load up when you have the opportunity to do so. Usuallly when a slugger becomes available, he is seeking an 7-8 year commitment, with Bay the offer only needs to be 4 years. Bay for $16.25 million seems reasonable for a 30 homer 100 RBI guy. The Sox would then have Mike Cameron as an excellent 4th outfielder, and occasional DH against lefties. Let's also remember, having a stellar 4th outfield is more than necessary when you have the likes of JD Drew in right.

Boston should go for it, and I hope the Red Sox put their offer back on the table. There are no other bidders out there aside from NYM, so the Bosox have a great opportunity. Bay was appreciated in Fenway, and I am sure the front office would be appreciated even more if they put their offer back on the table.

Top 100 Baseball Players Of The Decade

Rob Neyer from ESPN recently posted about his choices for the top 100 baseball players of the decade. I urge our readers to take a look at it, as it is pretty interesting. There is some great information in this post, and although I do agree with many of his players, he seems to have put some good thought into it.

Here are a few things I don't agree with in the article:

1)Does Javier Vasquez really get the nod as the 29th best player this decade? I mean, he was good, but not the 29th best. From 2004-2006 his ERA looked like this, 4.91, 4.42, and 4.84. Hardly #29 type stats. He is always ready to pitch though, I will give him that. Amazingly, he had 32 or more starts in each year during the 2000s.

2)Why is Mike Cameron(#36) rated above Roger Clemens(#42)? Clemens had 107 wins and 2 cy young awards during his 7 playing years in the 2000s.

3)Nomar is on the list. Unfortunately, Rob Neyer has forgotten to look past 2003. Since then, Nomar has only hit 20 homers once(20 in 2006), hasn't played in more than 124 games in a given year, and never knocked in 100. Finally, he did show some pop by hitting 11 homers combined in 2008 and 2009.

4)Corey Koskie is on the list....why?

Ellsbury Better Not Be Traded

Jacoby Ellsbury better be with the Red Sox at the start of the 2010 season. Some rumors are flying about saying that Ellsbury is now expendable because of the signing of Mike Cameron, and that Ellsbury could be used in a trade for Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez. If this happens, I will just snap.

Adrian Gonzalez is a great power hitter, but is he worth giving up the most exciting young outfielder in the league? Gonzalez is right in his prime, and his 35 homers and 100 RBI would truly help the Sox. However, what are the Sox going to do with the loss of Ellsbury? Are they truly planning on using an outfield of JD Drew, Mike Cameron and Jeremy Hermida? That would be one of the weakest outfields in the AL. Those three outfielders are all serviceable, but they aren't game changing. Ellsbury is a game changer. We are talking about a guy who hit .300 with 70 STOLEN BASES! 70! He also plays a gold glove caliber defense. Hardly easy shoes to fill.

As for our situation at 3B, you would solve your problems in the infield, by shifting Youk to 3rd and plugging in Gonzalez at 1st. However, you would once again leave a gaping hole (or two) in the outfield. Also, I am not the biggest fan of moving Youk back over to 3rd. He can obviously pick it at the hot corner, but he has showed greatness at 1st.

So what would you rather have - a great centerfielder with speed and a bat, or a 1b that will cost you your young-stud-centerfielder?