Mike Cameron signed with the Mets. 3 years, supposedly ~$19.5m [updated from initial report] which is a lot more than 1 year, $4-5m. He’ll be a huge upgrade for the Mets defensively, though even I think that’s a lot to pay for Cameron over the life of the deal. It also means he goes to the East Coast, which was one of his desires if he couldn’t come back to Seattle.
And not to spend too much time on this, but even if the M’s were afraid they’d lose in arbitration and pay $8m to return a stellar centerfielder to the team, the gap between his possible arbitration win and the Mets’ offer would almost certainly have meant he’d have moved on anyway, netting the M’s a sweet first-round pick. I understand that there’s risk involved in arbitration offers like this, but the small risk of losing (and having Cameron return, which isn’t so bad, is it?) against netting such a high draft pick would certainly seem like evidence that Gillvasi & Co. don’t want those high draft picks anyway, as has been speculated before.
Well, goodbye, Mike. I cheered for you the whole time you were here and loved watching you play, even if our park wasn’t good to you. I hope you find success and greater appreciation for your amazing play in New York. Thanks.