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Daz Cameron

Brewers Select Daz Cameron, Place Garrett Mitchell On 10-Day IL

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TODAY: As expected, the Brewers officially selected Cameron’s contract and placed Mitchell on the 10-day IL due to a left oblique strain.  Outfielder Blake Perkins (who has yet to place this season due to a shin fracture) was shifted to the 60-day injured list to create space for Cameron the 40-man roster.

APRIL 25: The Brewers intend to select Daz Cameron onto the major league roster, reports Francys Romero. Milwaukee had acquired him from the Orioles for lefty reliever Grant Wolfram a few weeks ago. They’ll need to create a 40-man roster spot to finalize the promotion.

That seems to be tied to Garrett Mitchell’s status. Milwaukee’s center fielder departed tonight’s loss in St. Louis after experiencing tightness in his left side. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) that Mitchell will go for an MRI on Saturday. Any kind of oblique strain would lead to an injured list placement.

While the injury opened an outfield spot, Cameron has certainly earned the call. He has been on fire at Triple-A Nashville since the trade. Cameron has connected on five homers while hitting .372 in 10 games. The former supplemental pick and top prospect has a career .253/.341/.436 batting line over seven minor league campaigns.

Cameron has yet to find much success against big league competition. He’s a .201/.263/.330 hitter with 10 homers through 430 major league plate appearances. The 28-year-old appeared in a personal-high 66 games with the A’s a year ago. He hit .200 while striking out at an elevated 27.4% rate. Cameron can play all three outfield spots and provide some right-handed power off the bench.

Switch-hitting Isaac Collins replaced Mitchell in center field after the injury. He has hit .163 with a near-35% strikeout rate over 46 major league plate appearances. Collins had a strong year in Nashville in 2024, batting .273/.386/.475 with 14 longballs and 24 stolen bases. An extended absence for Mitchell could open up his first real opportunity for regular playing time. Milwaukee could also slide Sal Frelick over to center field if they’re comfortable with Christian Yelich taking regular work in left field. They’ve been cautious with Yelich’s defensive workload so far. He has made 20 starts at designated hitter and only five in the outfield.

Orioles Acquire Grant Wolfram From Brewers

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The Orioles announced the acquisition of left-hander Grant Wolfram from the Brewers for minor league outfielder Daz Cameron and cash. Milwaukee had designated Wolfram for assignment this morning as the corresponding move for the Quinn Priester trade. He’ll take a spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The O’s transferred righty Albert Suárez to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.

Wolfram, 28, continues to await his major league debut. The 6’7″ southpaw pitched in the Texas farm system between 2018-24. He topped out at Triple-A and qualified for minor league free agency last offseason. Milwaukee saw enough in his minor league numbers to sign him to a major league contract. Wolfram opened the season on optional assignment to Triple-A. They called him up for the first time yesterday but did not get him into a game before designating him for assignment.

The lefty worked three Triple-A frames in the Milwaukee system. He gave up two runs while issuing four walks and recording three strikeouts. Wolfram pitched well in the Pacific Coast League a year ago. He turned in a 3.34 earned run average with a strong 25.6% strikeout rate across 56 2/3 frames with the Rangers’ top affiliate. While Wolfram has had spotty command throughout his minor league tenure, his fastball-slider combination has gotten a decent number of whiffs. He sits in the 94-95 MPH range with both his four-seam and sinker. Wolfram is in his first of three option years, so the O’s can keep him in Norfolk for a while if he holds his spot on their 40-man roster.

Cameron was not on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, so he won’t occupy an immediate spot with Milwaukee. He finished last season with the A’s. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers at the beginning of the offseason. They ran him through waivers early in Spring Training and kept him in the system when he accepted a minor league assignment.

The son of former Brewer Mike Cameron, Daz was a supplemental first-round pick and highly-regarded prospect. He hit .200/.258/.329 across a personal-high 186 plate appearances with the A’s last season. That essentially matches his career .201/.263/.330 slash over parts of four seasons. The 28-year-old Cameron has played parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. He’s a .250/.339/.425 hitter in more than 1800 plate appearances at the top minor league level.

Suárez landed on the 15-day IL last week with what the team initially called shoulder inflammation. They announced the injury today as a subscapularis strain. He’ll be down through at least the end of May. Suárez opened the season in long relief after Cade Povich won the fifth starter job during Spring Training. He had only made one appearance before the injury. Suárez was a valuable swingman last season, tossing 133 2/3 frames of 3.70 ERA ball while starting 24 of 32 appearances.

Daz Cameron Accepts Outright Assignment With Orioles

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The Orioles announced that outfielder Daz Cameron, whom they designated for assignment last week, has passed through outright waivers unclaimed. He had the right to elect free agency but has accepted the outright assignment and will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Cameron, 28, has never played in a game for the Orioles. He was with the Athletics in 2024 but was flipped to Baltimore for cash considerations at the end of October. For a while, Cameron projected as a bench outfielder but the O’s bolstered the group this offseason by signing Tyler O’Neill, Ramón Laureano and Dylan Carlson. Those moves nudged Cameron off the roster and onto the waiver wire.

Players have the right to reject an outright assignment and head to free agency if they have a previous career outright or three years of service time. Cameron was outrighted by the Orioles in the 2022-23 offseason after Baltimore claimed him off waivers from the Tigers. He went on to spend the 2023 season in the minors with the Orioles, becoming a free agent afterwards and signing a minor league deal with the A’s. That gave him the right to elect free agency with this outright but it seems he’ll stick with the O’s and try to earn his way back onto the roster.

Between the Tigers and A’s, Cameron has taken 430 trips to the plate at the major league level with a tepid .201/.263/.330 line. However, he has strong sprint speed and has stolen 14 bases without being caught. Over the past four years, he has hit .265/.347/.449 for a 105 wRC+ in 1,236 minor league plate appearances, so he’s perhaps capable of more than he has shown in his big league career so far.

The Orioles project to have an outfield alignment of Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser and O’Neill most of the time, with Heston Kjerstad, Ryan O’Hearn and Laureano also in the mix. Jorge Mateo will also factor in eventually though he seems likely to start the season on the injured list. Cameron will join players like Nick Gordon and Franklin Barreto in the non-roster depth group. If he gets back to the big leagues at any point, he is out of options but has less than two years of service time.

Orioles Claim Roansy Contreras, Designate Daz Cameron

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The Orioles have claimed right-hander Roansy Contreras from the Yankees, according to announcements from both clubs. There was no previous indication that the Yanks had removed Contreras from their roster, so their 40-man count drops to 39. The Orioles designated outfielder Daz Cameron for assignment as the corresponding move. The O’s also announced that infielder Luis Vázquez, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. The Yankees also announced that right-hander Allan Winans, who was himself designated for assignment this week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Both Vázquez and Winans receive non-roster invites to big league camp with their respective clubs.

The players mentioned in today’s announcements have been involved in many transactions this winter, none more so than the 25-year-old Contreras. He finished the 2024 season with the Angels but has since gone to the Rangers, Reds, Orioles, Yankees and now the O’s again via waiver claims.

That is a reflection of both his intriguing numbers and also the fact that he’s out of options, making it hard for him to cling to a roster spot. Back in 2022, he seemed to be cementing himself as a big league starter, logging 95 innings with the Pirates with a 3.79 earned run average, 21.1% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.

Things went downhill in 2023, as his ERA spiked to 6.59 and he got moved into more of a relief role. Last year, he got his ERA down to 4.35. His 18.8% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate were both subpar numbers, but it was a course correction nonetheless. The O’s are clearly intrigued, since this is the second time they’ve claimed him this winter.

Since this didn’t come in connection with another move for the Yankees, it’s possible they were trying to pass him through waivers since the 60-day injured list opens up next week when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. That will open up many roster spots around the league, making it harder for guys to go unclaimed. The gambit didn’t pay off in this case, but it’s possible the O’s will try the same thing in the coming days.

Cameron, 28, was acquired by the O’s from the A’s in a cash deal at the end of October. Like Contreras, he is also out of options. Since that time, the O’s have added Tyler O’Neill, Ramón Laureano and Dylan Carlson into their outfield mix. Those moves have likely bumped Cameron down the depth chart and into DFA limbo.

The O’s will now have a week to trade Cameron or pass him through waivers. He has a previous career outright, so he would have the right to elect free agency if he clears. He has a .201/.263/.330 batting line in 430 MLB plate appearances but has stolen 14 bases without being caught. He has less than two years of service time and can therefore be controlled for the next five seasons if anyone acquires him.

Vázquez, 25, was designated for assignment by the Cubs last month and flipped to the O’s for cash. Baltimore quickly bumped him off the roster and has now passed him through waivers. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he’ll give the club some extra depth in a non-roster capacity. He has only 14 MLB plate appearances but solid numbers in the minors. He slashed .268/.356/.448 for a 109 wRC+ over the past two years while playing plenty of shortstop, second base and third base.

The Yankees just claimed Winans, 29, off waivers from Atlanta last month. By passing him through waivers unclaimed now, they get to keep him as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have a previous career outright nor three years of big league service time, meaning he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. He has a 7.20 ERA in 40 big league innings thus far in his career.

Orioles Acquire Daz Cameron From Athletics

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The Athletics have traded outfielder Daz Cameron to the Orioles in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. This will be Cameron’s second stint in the Orioles organization.

Cameron, the son of All-Star outfielder Mike Cameron, was a highly-regarded prospect in the 2015 draft. The Astros selected him 37th overall but gave him a $4MM signing bonus, a number much closer to the slot value of the fifth overall pick (which Houston used on Kyle Tucker) rather than a competitive balance round selection. Yet, Cameron has never been able to live up to his top-prospect billing. The Astros sent him to the Tigers in 2017 as a part of the trade package for Justin Verlander, and he made his MLB debut with Detroit three years later. Over parts of three seasons with the Tigers, he put up a meager .201/.266/.330 slash line with a 66 wRC+ in 73 games.

After the 2022 season, the Tigers designated Cameron for assignment, and the Orioles scooped him up off of waivers. They quickly removed him from the 40-man roster but kept him in the organization and gave him an invitation to spring training. However, he failed to earn a spot on the roster out of camp and spent the 2023 season with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, slashing a serviceable .268/.346/.452 with a 98 wRC+ over 110 games. He showed off relatively good plate discipline (21.3% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate) and plus speed (23 stolen bases in 29 attempts), but it wasn’t quite enough to get him back on the 40-man roster.

Cameron posted monster numbers with the Athletics’ Triple-A club this past season, hitting .304/.424/.577 (149 wRC+) with six homers, eight steals and a gaudy 16.4% walk rate in 41 games. He parlayed that into a look in the majors but wasn’t able to capitalize, batting just .200/.258/.329 during his 66 games (186 plate appearances) as an Athletic.

Orioles GM Mike Elias was the Astros’ scouting director when Cameron was selected 37th overall by Houston in 2015 and clearly still thinks well of the player. It seems unlikely that Baltimore would carry the out-of-options Cameron into next season, but the O’s have a habit of making early-offseason depth acquisitions, signing those players to a split contract for the upcoming season and then passing them through waivers. It’s possible they could look to go down a similar path with Cameron, who’d be eligible to reject an assignment in favor of free agency if he ultimately does pass through waivers.

A’s Designate Jordan Diaz For Assignment

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves Thursday, placing outfielder Esteury Ruiz on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist strain, selecting the contract of Daz Cameron from Triple-A Las Vegas and designating infielder Jordan Diaz for assignment to open 40-man space for Cameron.

Diaz, 23, was an international signing out of Colombia and eventually jumped onto Baseball America’s list of top 30 prospects in the Oakland system in 2019, the first of five straight years he was featured on that list. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November of 2021, keeping him out of the Rule 5 draft. That roster spot came to Diaz after he hit 13 home runs in 90 High-A games that year, slashing .288/.337/.483 overall.

Unfortunately, the results since then haven’t been quite as impressive. He’s hit ten home runs in his 344 major league plate appearances but walked just 5.5% of the time, leading to a line of .227/.276/.358. That production translates to a wRC+ of 79, indicating he’s been 21% worse than league average.

His minor league production was still strong in the past two years but has fallen off a cliff here in 2024. He hit .321/.363/.513 on the farm over 2022 and 2023 but his line is just .204/.288/.327 so far this year. His 9.9% walk rate in 2024 is actually an improvement for him but he has just two home runs in 111 trips to the plate and the batting average is clearly not ideal.

He is now in his final option year, so there was a sort of ticking clock in the background for him this year. Since he’s gotten out to such a poor start, the A’s have nudged him off the roster now in order to open up a spot. They will have a week to try to trade Diaz or pass him through waivers. Perhaps a rival club looking for infield depth will be interested based on his previous seasons. Diaz can play the three non-shortstop infield positions and has even received very brief looks at catcher and left field. He can be kept on optional assignment for the rest of the year and has less than a year of service time at the moment.

Bumping Diaz off the 40-man opens a spot for Cameron, who will replace Ruiz in the club’s outfield rotation. The 27-year-old Cameron signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and been playing very well in Triple-A this year. He has drawn a walk in 16.4% of his 165 plate appearances and also hit six home runs, leading to a .307/.424/.577 batting line. Even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, that’s still 46% better than league average. He’s also stolen eight bases in ten tries.

Cameron has impressed in the minors before but has struggled in his attempts to carry that kind of production over to the majors. He received 244 plate appearances with the Tigers over the 2020-22 period but hit just .201/.266/.330 in that time, striking out at a 31.6% clip.

He exhausted his option years in that time and has been in the minors since then, with the Orioles last year and with the A’s so far this year. If things click for him in the majors this time, he can be kept around by the A’s since he has less than two years of service time. For now, he’ll join the club’s outfield mix alongside JJ Bleday, Brent Rooker, Seth Brown and Tyler Nevin.

A’s Claim Michael Kelly, Sign Daz Cameron To Minors Deal

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The A’s announced this evening that the club has claimed right-hander Michael Kelly off waivers from the Guardians. In addition, the club announced that they have signed outfielder Daz Cameron to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to Spring Training.

Kelly, 31, was designated for assignment by the Guardians earlier this week. A first-round pick by the Padres during the 2011 draft, Kelly has spent most of his career as a minor league journeyman. He spent the first several seasons of his career with San Diego before departing for the Orioles organization in 2018. He spent the 2019 season pitching in independent ball before returning to affiliated ball in 2021 with the Astros. After spending 2022 with the Phillies and 2023 in Cleveland, Kelly is now on to his fourth organization in as many seasons.

Kelly has performed fairly well in limited chances at the big league level, with a career 3.48 ERA and 3.52 FIP across 20 2/3 innings of work  out of the bullpen with the Phillies and Guardians. He owns a solid 23% strikeout rate during that time, but pairs it with a worrisome 11.5% walk rate. Kelly’s issues with the free pass extend to his work at Triple-A, where he’s walked 11.7% of batters faced across six seasons. He owns a 4.69 ERA in that time, though that figure was a far more palatable 3.58 in 37 2/3 innings of work at the level this year.

As for Cameron, the 26-year-old outfielder was a first-round pick by the Astros in the 2015 draft. After heading to Detroit as part of the return in the Justin Verlander trade, Cameron played in parts of three seasons for the Tigers from 2020-22, accumulating a slash line of just .201/.266/.330 across 244 big league plate appearances during that time. Cameron played for the Orioles at the Triple-A level this season and did fairly well for himself, slashing .268/.346/.452 in 446 trips to the plate for what was the best full-season performance at the level of his career. The A’s currently project to utilize Esteury Ruiz, Seth Brown, and JJ Bleday in the outfield entering next season. That outfield mix leaves plenty of opportunities for Cameron to break camp with the team should his performance this spring warrant it.

The Tigers’ Last Chance To Get Something From The Justin Verlander Trade

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There once was a time when Justin Verlander had only played for the Tigers. He was drafted by them with the second overall pick in 2004 and then cemented himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball in the years that followed. He twice signed contracts that extended the club’s control over his services, once in 2010 and another in 2013. That latter contract ran through his age-36 season and was signed while the club was one of the best in the league. They were fresh off a World Series appearance in 2012 and would eventually get to a four-year streak of winning the AL Central in 2014. It wouldn’t have been outlandish to expect him to be a Tiger for life.

However, the fortunes of the franchise changed in the years after that, as they slipped into the basement of the division in 2015. They bounced back with an 86-win showing in 2016 but still missed the playoffs, then were not doing so great again in 2017. It was decided that it was time to turn things over, with the Tigers making two huge deals at the waiver deadline that year. They first traded Justin Upton to the Angels and then Verlander to the Astros. The latter deal was Verlander, a player to be named later and cash for prospects Franklin Pérez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers. The PTBNL was later reported as outfielder Juan Ramirez.

It’s now been over five years since that franchise-altering pivot. The Astros went on to win their first World Series a few months after acquiring Verlander, though that title is now forever asterisked in the minds of many baseball fans due to the trashcan-banging scandal. But subsequent contracts kept Verlander in Houston through 2022 as the club continued to be among the best in the league. They made the ALCS in each of those seasons, making it to the World Series again in 2019 and 2021 before winning their second title last year.

As for the Tigers, they have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, continually rebuilding during that entire stretch. That 86-win showing in 2016 is still their last winning season. They’ve also reaped little from those future-focused moves back in 2017. Right-hander Grayson Long, who came over in the Upton deal, topped out at Double-A and retired in 2019. The PTBNL in the deal was later reported as Elvin Rodríguez, who made seven appearances with the Tigers last year but was outrighted at season’s end and is now with the Rays on a minor league deal.

As for the Verlander deal, Pérez was generally considered the headliner at the time as he was a highly-touted prospect then. Baseball America had him in the #54 slot of their top 100 at the start of 2017 and bumped him to #35 going into 2018. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit him badly, mostly in the shoulder. He was only able to throw 19 1/3 innings in the minors in 2018 and 7 2/3 in 2019. The minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020 and then shoulder surgery wiped out 2021 for Pérez. He was released by the Tigers and re-signed, eventually tossing 25 1/3 innings in the Complex League last year but with a 9.59 ERA. He appears to still be in the organization but it’s hard to count on him for anything now after so much missed development time. He’s 25 years old and has yet to crack Double-A, outside of a brief stint at that level prior to the trade.

Cameron was also a highly-touted young outfielder, having cracked BA’s top 100 list in 2016. Though he had slipped off by the time of the trade, he was still an exciting young player. He made his way to the big leagues but couldn’t do much with the opportunity. He got into 73 major league games over the past three years but hit just .201/.266/.330 and struck out in 31.6% of his plate appearances. He was put on waivers in November, getting claimed by the Orioles and subsequently outrighted.

That leaves Rogers as the last hope for the Tigers to salvage the deal in some way. Arguably seen as the least significant piece of the deal at the time, Rogers was Houston’s #20 prospect at Baseball America coming into 2017. The catcher hasn’t been able to provide much value to the Tigers so far, but that’s not really his fault. He required Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, which wiped out his entire 2022 season. Prior to that, he was showing some positive signs in a small sample. He got into 38 games in 2021 and hit six home runs. Despite striking out in 36.2% of his plate appearances, his .239/.306/.496 was above average, resulting in a 116 wRC+.

He’s now back from that long layoff and showing encouraging signs in a small sample again. His 28.3% strikeout rate this year is still high but it’s an improvement from his previous work. He’s also nearly doubled his walked rate from 8.7% in 2021 to 15.2% this year. His .237/.370/.447 batting line on the season amounts to a 135 wRC+.

This is a tiny sample of 46 plate appearances in 15 games and will surely change. However, Rogers doesn’t need to hit like a superstar to be valuable since he’s considered a strong defensive backstop. In his limited time in the big leagues, he has four Defensive Runs Saved. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus gave him negative grades for his framing prior to the Tommy John but he’s in the positive range so far this year. He’s thrown out 16 of 39 attempted base stealers in his career, a 41% rate that’s well above average, though he’s nabbed just one of six this year.

Rogers’ career thus far is so limited that it’s hard to draw any meaningful conclusions. Thanks to the lost season, he has just 88 major league games under his belt despite now being 28 years old. But given his reputation as a strong defensive catcher, even something near league average offense would make him a useful contributor. He’s shown the potential to be more than that, hitting 12 home runs already in barely half a season of cumulative work. He’s yet to reach arbitration but is slated to get there this winter and is on pace to reach free agency after 2026.

It’s highly likely that the Verlander trade will eventually be seen as a big miss for the Tigers overall. Fans had to watch an iconic player win two rings elsewhere while the highly-touted young players they got in return couldn’t meet expectations and the team posted miserable results overall. But if Rogers can keep serving as a solid defender behind the plate who launches a ball over the wall every once in a while, he can keep it from going down as an utter disaster.

Orioles Outright Daz Cameron

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The Orioles announced that outfielder Daz Cameron has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.

Cameron, 26 in January, was just claimed off waivers from the Tigers a few weeks ago. He was the 37th overall pick in 2015, taken by the Astros when Baltimore’s general manager Mike Elias was working for Houston.

As a prospect, Cameron was expected to have a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense but with development needed at the plate. The Tigers decided to take a chance on that profile by acquiring Cameron in the 2017 Justin Verlander trade. Unfortunately, the bat hasn’t taken the necessary step forward. In 73 MLB games thus far, he’s hit just .201/.266/.330 with a Triple-A line that’s only slightly better at .236/.324/.398.

Despite those tepid results, Cameron is still young and could be a nice piece for the O’s. Even without a huge development with the bat, his speed and defense could make him a candidate for fourth outfielder duty. Since he was out of options, he wasn’t going to be able to be shuttled back and forth between the majors and minors next year, but the Orioles can now keep him as depth without him taking up a roster spot.

Orioles Claim Daz Cameron

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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.

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