Blue Jays outfielder Cam Eden went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Buffalo, per a team announcement. Toronto had not previously announced a DFA for Eden, though that’s not required before placing a player on waivers. His outright frees up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster.
Eden, 25, was Toronto’s sixth-round pick in 2019 and made his big league debut in 2023. Appearing in just five games, the speedster went 1-for-6 with a single and a pair of strikeouts. The bulk of Eden’s season was spent in Buffalo, where he posted a .257/.354/.333 batting line. As evidenced by that stat line, Eden is quite light on power (just three home runs in 460 plate appearances) but draws walks at an above-average clip. He’s also a major threat on the bases, where he went 53-for-57 in attempted steals.
Overall, Eden hasn’t had a full season of above-average production at the dish in pro ball, with the exception of his 2021 campaign in High-A (.274/.382/.402). But he’s a plus runner with more than 2000 innings of professional experience in center field who’ll now stick with the Jays organization and give them some depth in the upper minors, should injuries create a necessity for help in the outfield, some speed off the bench and/or a right-handed bat.
He’s on to greener pastures now.
If by greener you mean playing on real grass, you are correct.
There was a time when guys like this would be valued for their speed/defense and often become regulars. Now everyone’s obsessed with power.
This is because organizations are being more methodical in their decision making. They realize that power corelates with winning more than speed/defense.
Intuitively it seems that speed/defense is more valuable because it appears to be more athletic. Watching a stolen base, triple or catching a ball that’s going over the fence is more exciting than a homer.
Make ballparks bigger, in fair and foul territory, and speed/defense would matter much more than power.
A player named Eden should play in Madison Square Garden. 😉