Mets To Swap Cameron For Nady

Over at RotoAuthority, I did an in-depth breakdown of the rumored Manny Ramirez trade.  The conclusion?  Even a trade of just Lastings Milledge and Mike Cameron for Manny Ramirez would be damaging to the Mets by 2007.  If the Mets add Yusmeiro Petit or Aaron Heilman to the mix, they get killed in the deal.

But now we have a new trade rumor that puts a wrinkle in the proposed Manny deal.  Word is that Mike Cameron for Xavier Nady is close to a done deal. 

Nady’s versatility is helpful, but he won’t match Cameron’s value in 2006.  Cameron’s not a star player in my book, but then again, you know you’ve made it when people start impersonating you to score painkillers.  Cameron plays a solid center field, and can still add 6 wins to a team at age 33.  Nady is 27 and is still several years away from free agency.  The Mets are hoping he can approximate his production from Triple A Portland in 2004: .330/.391/.629 in 74 games.  Nady did slug .615 in June of ’05, so the potential is intriguing.

More interesting than the Cameron for Nady trade itself is the related fallout.  Consider:

The Red Sox would have one less option to replace Johnny Damon, and it becomes more likely that they bite the bullet and offer him a four-year deal.

The Mets back away from Carlos Delgado, Paul Konerko, and other available first basemen.  They begin the year with some combination of Mike Jacobs and Xavier Nady at the position.

A new group of players would have to be assembled to entice the Red Sox to surrender Ramirez.  Rest assured that if Lastings Milledge is involved, the Red Sox will still be listening.   

Thanks to Ryan from Berkeley