The Orioles have claimed outfielder Daz Cameron off waivers from the Tigers, per announcements from both clubs. The Tigers added that infielder Josh Lester went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Toledo.
Cameron, 26 in January, was the No. 37 overall pick by the Astros back in 2015, when current O’s general manager Mike Elias was the scouting director in Houston. The son of three-time Gold Glove winner Mike Cameron, Daz at one point ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at several outlets, including Baseball America and MLB.com, but has endured his share of struggles both in the upper minors and in parts of three big league seasons.
The Tigers acquired Cameron alongside Jake Rogers and Franklin Perez from the Astros in what has become an increasingly lopsided Justin Verlander trade back in 2018. Cameron has logged 73 games with Detroit over the past three seasons but managed only a .201/.266/.330 batting line through 244 trips to the plate. He hasn’t fared all that much better in Triple-A, slashing .236/.324/.398 in 1201 career plate appearances.
Cameron is out of minor league options, so if the Orioles will have to carry him on the Opening Day roster next year or else pass him through waivers at some point between now and then. For the time being, he seemingly bumps fellow righty-swinging outfielder Ryan McKenna (who does have a minor league option remaining) down the depth chart and more squarely back to the Triple-A ranks.
Lester, 28, was a 13th-round pick by Detroit back in 2015 and made his MLB debut in 2022, going hitless with three punchouts in a tiny sample of five plate appearances. He hit for plenty of power in Triple-A this past season, smashing 29 homers and 39 doubles with a .246/.311/.479 batting line in 621 trips to the plate. Lester has experience all over the infield but primarily played first base and in the outfield corners with Toledo in 2022.
As a Tigers fan I can say part of me is relieved and part of me will always wonder what might’ve happened to him under the new regime. Would he have developed? Still he’s no spring chicken.
I agree. The Tigers have been pretty good at developing pitchers. Unfortunately, they have been TERRIBLE at developing hitters.
After all of these years, you’d expect we’d have ONE unexpected hitter, but no. The only hitter that’s really come up is Riley Greene, but he was can’t miss. Tork was also can’t miss, but if anyone could make him miss, it would be the Tigers, and it looks like they may do just that.
The JV trade keeps looking worse and worse.
It really doesn’t. His contract at the time of the trade only ran through 2019 so anything he does after that is irrelevant. And the Tigers can bring him back this offseason if they wish to do so.
The JV trade was the best thing tigers did. They were going no where. Verlander didn’t even play 2 years after he was traded either due to injury.
The Tigers PAID $16 million of Verlander’s salary to get the Astros to take him for the remaining 2+ years of his contract. What’s the basis, prospectively or in retrospect, for thinking the Tigers got $16 million in value for those payments? And then SUBTRACT from whatever value the Tigers got the difference between who they trotted out to the mound instead the next 2+ seasons. (Verlander was 5-0 with an ERA of 1 during the remainder of that year, and finished 2 & 1 in Cy Young the next two years.)
In retrospect, this has to go down as one of the worst trades in history. But even prospectively, Verlander (after an earlier career dip) had been one of the best starting pitchers in the league, so he was predictably a ++performer for the rest of that contract.
This wasn’t like the JD Martinez trade – “We’ve only got him for the next 2 months and we’re going nowhere, so the worst we can is break even.” This was 2+ years of control for an elite pitcher.
Tigers would have had no use for Verlander in those 2+ years. Or in the 2 years after that. Now they can bring him back if they want. Won’t even cost them a draft pick.
What if we knew the future? That Verlander would go 5-0 immediately after the trade and be the most dominant pitcher in the league for the next 2 years. If the Astros KNEW that, wouldn’t they have given more in prospects to get such a vital piece for 2016, 2017, and 2018? If they knew it, would they have agreed to assume less than $16 million of Verlander’s pay? If other contenders knew it, would they have given more in prospects or assumed less salary?
Of course they would have given up more or taken less. And so would the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, etc. in those seasons.
Naturally, we CAN’T know that Verlander would be out-of-this-world great for the rest of that time. But Verlander just came off 2 top-5-Cy-Young seasons. The distance between the value he just posted the prior 2 years wasn’t even that much less than the Astros got out of him the following 2 years.
It would be speculation to say, “Maybe the Tigers gave away something valuable that, in trade, could have been the piece that made them better in 2, 3, 5, whatever years.” Again, speculation but look at the other players knocking around in the Houston minors at the time: Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, J.D. Davis, Teoscar Hernandez.
But it’s not speculation to say the Tigers gave away something that was predictably very valuable to the buyer.
Not to mention the Tigers ownership had to pay $16 million of Verlander’s salary while he made the Astros the best team in baseball. If I owned the Tigers and had a choice of paying $16 million or, say, zero, I’d choose zero.
One of the worst deals ever, and it probably the Tigers their best chance of getting a franchise-quality hitter with 7 years of control.
Tigers were intentionally tanking. The best thing they did was trade him. I think only tiger fans don’t understand that. Tigers were going no where. The return they got was actually incredible. Franklin Perez, Rogers, Daz Cameron were all the Astros top guys. In fact they were on the buies creek team with Framber Valdez, Yordan Alvarez, Myles Straw, Kyle Tucker etc. Franklin Perez was the #1 Pitcher and #1 prospect for the astros. Rogers is a future all star still…..but he led the entire minors in war on Baseball Prospectus and Daz Cameron. Those guys were the AStros studs…when the astros had #1 farm.
There has only been 1 trade since 2016 that i can remember where a team got 3 top 10s for a player and that was last year with luis castillo.
Also if verlander stayed in Detroit he wouldn’t ever even come close to his performance with houston and the sticky stuff and analytic pitch calling. Tigers didn’t have that until recently.
There’s no point trying to talk logic and sense to Avila apologists. By their logic, they should give away a car that they just drove off the log because its value is only going down from there. Clowns.
I didn’t know there were Avila apologists!
Clears a space on the 40 man roster?
Cameron Diaz?
There’s something about Maryland.
Crab cakes?
Whoosh!
As so it begins!
Good luck.
Ah. Another Al Avila special.
Oh, this is stylish
Daz very nice
He was I think the centerpiece of the JV trade. Talent is there but may be a late bloomer
Franklin Perez was the centerpiece. Injuries destroyed him.
Didn’t know Mike had a son in the bigs. The pic looked a lot like Mike, so not too shocked it’s his son.
Cameron could still develop into a decent 4th Outfielder. The star ceiling definitely is gone but change of scenery you never know
Daz the way (uh huh, uh huh) I like it.
Daz duh way we do it ..
An Elias 1st round pick back in his Houston days. Love McKenna but strikes out way to much. Per this article, an upgrade here. And if not Daz someone else?
Also, a message to Os fans that FO is comfy taking on Boras clients? See SPs Walker and Bassitt of Mets to name a few. IE the Os did decline Lyles option.
McKenna’s problem is Daz’s problem too.
Yusniel Diaz is going to find himself DFA’d though.
@Orioles2024; thanks for the intel. If Daz strikes out as much as McKenna, keep McKenna or get someone else other than a Daz skill set to replace him?
I think a 4tH/5th OF is always gonna have a deficiency somewhere. Let them battle
Thought Daz would be a winner
Best to him
Al Avila.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Why does anyone trade with Houston? I can think of only two trades that worked out in the other team’s favor in recent history (2015 and beyond).
Just another Bob Nutting dumpster dive….oh wait wrong team…..the man says
I am very disappointed the Tigers didn’t play Daz Cameron and Derek Hill enough to evaluate them.
They played them more than enough.
Avila got absolutely fleeced in the Verlander deal. Three pieces of junk. Perez was and is damaged goods. He can’t make a sandwich without injuring himself. Daz and Jake can’t hit. Period. Meanwhile, JV wins 2 Cys, 2 WS’s & probably wears a Stros hat in Cooperstown. Thanks, AL.