Mike Cameron, big contract and all, is ridiculously more valuable than Melky Cabrera.

Depends on your definition of value. Clearly Cameron is the better baseball player, probably about 5-10 runs better. (i think it’ll be on the low side).

But if you consider the contracts like you are implying, then clearly Melky is more valuable.

projections for 2009
cameron wOBA .333, 2.0 WAR +.25 defense, total WAR 2.25 = $11 million, contract = $10.0 million; value = $1 million
cabrera wOBA .317, 1.8 WAR +0 defense, total WAR 1.80 = $8.8 million, contract = $0.5 million; value = $8.3 million

I’d be surprised if the Astros cut Backe loose as they need pitching depth, but maybe his emotional ups and downs have soured them. He’d be worth a shot at a spot.

Daniel Cabrera seems like a guy who Os fans repeatedly suggest as part of a trade package. I don’t really know anything about him, but he has about a 5 ERA in the AL East.

The day before CC agreed to go to NY, I DLed an interview with him. He was funny in an acidic sort of way. You have to appreciate when managers and GMs actually answer questions. Do you have an interest in Tex? “No.”

It was probably partly brought about by the interviewer. I often wonder who hires some of the knuckleheads in the Milwaukee market, but this guy was painful to listen to.

… because the mid-mug rant about patience and the Cameron deal is dead on.

And somehow, inexplicably, 64% of JS readers (poll is in the Tom H. blog linked above) think the trade is a good idea.

I want to know what the crossover in readership is between here and there. I usually refrain from reading comments on Tom H’s blog because things like this. There’s just no point.

“Cabrera, 24, had an unacceptable .301 on-base percentage last season and a poor .341 slugging percentage, eventually leading to a demotion to the minors. The Brewers think he can bounce back because he puts the ball in play more than Cameron (only 58 strikeouts in 414 at-bats”

Macha is all about OBP and Melky’s .301 is a joke.

Let’s not forget that Braun was officially errorless last year in LF and a lot of that has to do with Cameron’s defense.

As far as Buster Olney and his eulogy, Suck it Buster. This team has a lot of upside having Macha and Willie Randolf in the dugout rather than our old friend Ned. I am still cautiously optimistic for this team.

What if this isn’t a salary dump (which was my first thought) so much as it is clearing payroll to bring on the pitching we’re after?

It sounds like that Doug doesn’t think we can compete without a top starter and a reliever who can close (if not a bona fide closer).

I guess, I wonder which is better for the 2009 Brewers: “top” starter (which, admittedly, may not be very “top,” given the available choices) + closer + Milktoast or suck-o starter + suck-o closer + Cameron? The answer might actually be the Cameron option, really, depending on the names involved.

Or, more directly, which is more preferable:

1. a supplemental pick in the 2009 draft, $10 million in salary savings, no credible centerfielder
2. a supplemental pick in the 2010 draft, Cam in 2009, no credible centerfielder in 2010 (Cain?)
3. Milktoast Cabrera + $8 million in savings, no picks

Or maybe we’re clearing payroll, but keeping the option of a salary dump as the offseason progresses.

Seems like everyone, on both sides, hates this trade.

Yankee fans think Cabrera is due for a turn around, and if at all else, is so young there’s plenty of time for him to really produce. They think his defense is on par with Cameron’s, to that I say shenanigans, but I’m sure like any 24 year old prospect/full timer there’s room for development(a la teaching Weeks to throw a ball from 2nd all the way to 1st, without throwing it at the soda vendor 4 rows behind the Brewers’ dugout).

Then here, everyone writes off Cabrera as a ’that’s how he is, that’s how he’s been, and that’s how he’ll always be’ type of player. Granted all most of us have seen out of the guy are stats, which of course never lie, but give me a break when you’re getting a young center fielder for more years, less coin, and less K’s over a guy with good, sometimes shaky, defense to go with a 2 K’s a game at the plate. I truly like Cameron for the way you always hear guy’s calling him a clubhouse leader, he’s the guy to talk to, or untucking the jerseys, but $10 mil + 1 year for that as a more than likely stop gap for Cain just isn’t worth it. That of course makes me agree with KLSnow. We should have just let him go his merry way and had another Type-B FA. That way we could develop our own CF without the pressure to perform and media slamming/demanding expectations that may well have caved in a Melky Cabrera.

But being that we picked up that option, whether it be because we hoped it’d net CC or we think he’d still work well for 2009, if this deal goes down we’re free of that much more money for later on down the road for so much as a contract to some of the guys we have on board currently, let alone this offseason in the free agent market.

So for me, I’m in the boat like everyone else. Yankees’ fans hate the trade, quite a lot of Brewer fans dislike this deal, so all in all I say it makes no difference other than opening up a bit more money to use as we wish. What more could Cameron possibly could have added that a Cabrera couldn’t, and vice versa? It’s experience and cash verses youth and regaining stride. I’d take the cheaper of two evils if it’s such a headache.