Cameron willing to "make a sacrifice" to stay with the Brewers

[trwi7]

From McCalvy's blog

 

"I would be willing to make a sacrifice to make that happen," he said. "You just never know how it's going to work out financially. It would be cool, because I like it here. Doug [Melvin, the Brewers' general manager] is pretty straightforward, and it's just a matter of what direction they want to go in."

This would be awesome if he would give up some money to remain with the Brewers. I like Cam, hope he's back for another year.

[TooLiveBrew]

Agreed with all that, trwi. I would love to see Cameron stay, and don't think his salary number is going to really affect much the team's ability to add SPing or not.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Would love to see him back. I wouldn't want to spend more than $6 million though.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Or I don't want the Brewers to spend more than $6 million, I should say.

[crewcrazy]

It would definitely be cool if they could get Cameron at a discounted rate. I'm sure he realizes the end is coming soon and he's made all he needs to make life comfortable for his family for a few generations. At this point it's about being happy, and if he's happy here, hopefully Doug can make it happen. Even if the Brewers could shave off a few million and give him a Hoffman-type contract it would help.

[giffted1]

I'd love to see Cameron back and am glad to see he wants to come back. It's easy to say stuff like this when the team is doing well, but I think it speaks volumes about our franchise when a solid veteran like Cameron likes it and wants to come back despite our struggles this year.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Jason Kendall also made similar remarks yesterday. Not about making a sacrifice, but he said something like "My top choice is coming back here. I'm not just saying that, I really, really love it here."

 

Granted many of us don't want Kendall back, but it must look good to other FAs.

[markedman5]

Wouldn't it be more exciting if some good pitchers were excited about coming here?

 

I mean how depressing is it to watch teams take batting practice againt us game after game?

[Weirdos19]

I think we need to go a different direction. I like Cam, I really do. But, we need more high OBP guys. I would love to throw Cam's money at Lopez and try Weeks in Center. A lineup with Lopez and Weeks batting in front of Braun and Prince makes me drool. I think Cam, Hardy, Hart, and Kendall all need to go. They can be replaced with Weeks, Escobar, Gamel, and Rivera.

[Menace II Sobriety]

I think we need to go a different direction. I like Cam, I really do. But, we need more high OBP guys. I would love to throw Cam's money at Lopez and try Weeks in Center. A lineup with Lopez and Weeks batting in front of Braun and Prince makes me drool. I think Cam, Hardy, Hart, and Kendall all need to go. They can be replaced with Weeks, Escobar, Gamel, and Rivera.

I would bet that any upgrade that the Crew gained in OBP they would lose two-fold in defense. It is a tough decision because right now Weeks is still probably 5th or 6th in HR on this team and I want him back. I just don't want to see him turn into a Brandon Phillips as soon as he leaves. If he turns it on and a prospect is ready than his value will be maximized. Lopez has been so good while he has been here it is tough to just let him go, but with the picks that are available, hopefully it works out.

 

But to stay on topic, with how many changes this team will see next year keeping Cam would be great, especially if we could get him at 70% of his contract. With changes at SS, C, 3B confusion, and maybe doing something in RF, having Cam in center would be great.

[TooLiveBrew]

Cam's OBP this season has been hovering around .360. He actually would have been a good option to try at leadoff.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

"I think Cam, Hardy, Hart, and Kendall all need to go"

 

The only one of that group I would say HAS to go is Jason Kendall. Cameron has been great for the Brewers, I would love him back. Hardy and Hart have talent, and maybe it's the fan in me talking, but I just can't believe either one of them would be as bad next season as they were this season. Then again, Hart was bad at the end of 2008, too. Hardy almost surely won't be back, but I think next year his numbers will go back to .275ish and 20-25 homers.

[DonMoney4Mgr]

I think Cam has been better than I thought. Great leader, excellent fielder, and just a quality dude. However, I am for the Brewers pooling all possible resources to throw an offer at Prince. 6M doesn't seem like much, but maybe that will equal about 5% of Fielder's 5 yr. extension. (potentially). I've stated this before - keep Braun and Fielder and get by as inexpensive as possible with the rest of the position players. That group could still be pretty good.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think it's important to keep in mind that Cam's comment, "I would be willing to make a sacrifice to make that happen" isn't necessarily in reference to his $10M number this season. While I have been a big proponent of Mike (& retaining him for 2010), I don't think we should assume the 'sacrifice' he'd make would be relative to his 2009 salary. I think he could find a 2-yr., $20M deal on the open market. The sacrifice he might make is in only signing a one-year deal, or signing for around the same AAV ($10M).

 

I still want to see him retained, but I don't know if forecasting $6 or $7M is necessarily what Cam is talking about.

[berniebrewer4life]

Cameron wants to stay here, and i would love to see him stay. I consider him at his current price a discount. If he's willing to sign for that, i'm in. Besides, who else will we have play Center next year? Maybe Cain if he hadn't had the injuries. But as of right now, we have nobody that i can think of.

[craigharmann]

Besides, who else will we have play Center next year?

Internally your choices are Gerut, Hart, Burgeois, Tike Redman, or Corey Patterson. Or sign a FA. But if you do that, you're still looking at potentially a stopgap for another 2-3 years until Cain proves ready, capable and injury free. I'd keep Cam.

[Invader3K]

The problem is if you spend all this money on veteran players currently on the team, that doesn't leave a lot of financial flexibility to improve the pitching staff. It's great Cameron and Kendall want to come back, but I'm not sure it's the smart move at this point.

[fondybrewfan]

I don't think it is all that great that Kendall wants to come back....

 

The only reason he wants to be here is because we are the only team dumb enough to keep starting the guy.

[Invader3K]

Melvin is probably already drawing up a contract extension for him.

[Tbadder]

I love Cam; I really, really do. But I'd rather offer him arby and have another team sign him. At this point I think the Crew are two or three years away from contending, and the draft choices are more important. But if we did sign him I'd still be happy. I love good defensive players.

[CheezWizHed]

Personally, I think our best bet at improving the starting pitching is through trades, not FA. So offer Cam, Lopez, Hoffman arby. If they reject it, we they sign somewhere else, we get picks. If they sign with us, we gain flexibility to make trades from depth (well, mainly Weeks/Lopez and Hardy/Escobar).

[Roderick]

I love Cam; I really, really do. But I'd rather offer him arby and have another team sign him.

I sure hope we don't offer arbitration. I like Cam, but I don't want to be paying Cam $11-$12M for 2010. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but that is my guess on the amount. I don't think anyone is going to offer him that as a FA, so he would accept arby and the Brewers won't be getting any picks.

 

As for Cam's OBP, how much of that is derived from how bad the #6,7,8 hitters have been this year? I think Cam has received his share of intentional, unintentional walks this year because of the dropoff in hitting. If you put him at leadoff, he isn't going to be getting that quantity of walks to keep his obp at .356.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd want him back (for 1 year only at $5 million) only if Hart was dealt and replaced in RF by a LH hitter that makes better contact. Maybe that can be accomplished by retaining Lopez and Catalanotto. Since those guys (and Escobar) have been in the lineup replacing Hardy and Hart and Hall for that matter, the offense has had a better flow to it. More balls are being put in play, more pressure's been put on the defense. My big problem with Cameron was that he was one of many right handed bats with contact issues. Without Hall, Hart, and Hardy, that is less of a concern.

 

As for Kendall, no thanks unless it was for around $2 million and he were told and management would stick with it, that he wouldn't get more than half the starts. Problem is they won't do that. I do not want Kendall as a full time catcher.

[Thurston Fluff]

It appears unlikely we will get top level pitching this off season. If you can't get top flight pitching you can make up for it with top flight defense. Cam and Escobar up the middle is about as good as you can get. If he wants to come back at the same or lower money I'm all for it. Keep Cam trade Hardy for some AA pitcher who could start at AAA and be ready if they need him. Then find a mid level veteran pitcher or two to compete for a starting job. If we can find one or two coming off injury that is willing to play on a one year contract to reestablish themselves it could be a cheap way to patch the pitching until some of the minor league talent is ready.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I think next year we will be surprised by our team salary. After drawing 3,000,000 this year, and with next year likely being Prince's last year with us, I wouldn't be surprised if we get above $100,000,000. Since I think it will be Prince's last year with us I think that we should re-sign Cameron. I saw a lot of people post statistical reason why we shouldn't. But I get the feeling that he is a good clubhouse presence and on-top-of-that he plays an outstanding centerfield. We do need more OPS guys. But I don't think we need to replace four starters in order to do that. I don't think that we can replace four starters with better OPS guys unless we get into Red Sox salary areas. EDIT: A subsequent made me realize that I was unclear about Prince. I think that we will trade Prince after next season. If he starts 2011 with us, I doubt that he will finish it with us.