As we told you earlier today, Mike Cameron's time in Boston is over. Sox GM Theo Epstein took a few minutes to discuss the signing, and where it may have gone wrong. Not surprisingly, Theo's taking all the blame for this one.
"We've been scratching our heads. I'll take the hit on this one," said Epstein regarding the acquisition of Cameron and subsequent lack of production from the 38-year-old. "We try to be disciplined with trying to look for players in their primes when we bring them in. Mike was still a productive player when we got him, but -- this is all speculation -- maybe because of his advanced age, despite the great shape he keeps himself in, he had the significant internal injury, the double hernia, double groin surgery this winter, maybe just made the recovery that much more difficult at his age.
"But when it doesn't work out you have to stand up and say it didn't work out. That one didn't work out. We're not going to sugar coat it. We still think very highly of Mike as a player and as a person. He got hurt and ended up not producing this year. It ended up not working out for the Red Sox despite his best efforts."
I was excited for the Mike Cameron signing at the time. A solid veteran who could theoretically play all three OF positions was a need. Unfortunately, it was a disaster.
Well, Mike Cameron's bank account grew substantially and his agent now owns a fleet of Bentleys, so it wasn't a complete loss. No hard feelings though, he tried and failed. Best of luck in the future.
