Boston Red Sox: Why Would They Trade Mike Cameron?

I was reading the Boston Globe on Wednesday and saw Nick Cafardo mention that the Boston Red Sox don’t expect to trade OF Mike Cameron this spring.

My question is: Why would they?

Unless the Red Sox get completely blown away by an offer, there is no reason to trade Cameron. As a matter of fact, I think the Red Sox really need him in 2011.

The Red Sox have three left-handed hitters—Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford and J.D. Drew—as their starting outfielders in 2011. Two of the three don’t hit left-handed pitching all that well.

Crawford has a lifetime .315 OBP against LHP and Drew’s OPS against LHP is 151 points lower than it is against RHP. Only Ellsbury has had success against LHP. Ellsbury has a .752 career OPS against lefties versus a .747 OPS against righties.

I am guessing that Tito Francona would want to play Cameron—a right-handed hitter—against LHP on occasion.

Cameron has a career .866 OPS against LHP, so he would be a nice fill in for either of them on days when there is a tough lefty on the mound.

The second reason why the Red Sox need Cameron is because of the health, or lack thereof, when it comes to Ellsbury and Drew. Drew is inevitably going to get hurt. It’s almost a guarantee at this point.

As for Ellsbury, he is coming off a year where he only played in 18 games. He appears to be healthy now, but he is no sure thing to be in the lineup card everyday.

With Drew and Ellsbury being injury-prone, the Red Sox need a solid fourth OF. Cameron can certainly be that guy.

Now, Cameron did have his share of injuries last season (only played in 48 games), but when he is healthy, he is usually good for a .250/.330/.450 slash line with 20 HRs. Not too many fourth OFs, if they played everyday, would put up that type of production.

Plus, even at the age of 38, Cameron is probably still the best Boston defensive OF. Having him come in as a defensive replacement late in the game for Ellsbury is a nice luxury to have.

Having an embarrassment of riches allows the Red Sox to keep Cameron and his $8 million salary for 2011. And that’s a good thing, because they are going to need him.

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