Mike Cameron has been activated, Darnell McDonald has been designated for assignment and Terry Francona has decided that Jacoby Ellsbury will stay in centerfield with Cameron manning left. Let us unpack, shall we?
Good news for the Sox having Cameron back. He started slow before the injuries sapped him, but he appears to be feeling great now. He even hit a walkoff homer in his last minor league rehab assignment.
I like Ellsbury in centerfield. As his comments here suggest, he wasn’t comfy in left, and given how banged up everyone is, better to keep them in their comfort zone (and Ellsbury has more comfort in Fenway’s centerfield than Cameron does).
The McDonald DFA brought forth all kinds of “wow, tough break for him; what a shame there’s no way to keep him” sentiment among Boston scribes on Twitter last night. Terry Francona was downright misty when he announced it. I get that, I suppose, inasmuch as McDonald had a couple of big hits right after being called up when everything seemed so bleak for the Sox. But let’s face facts: McDonald was hitting .263/.320/.400, which is pretty much off-the-shelf production for a career minor leaguer called up to the bigs, and his defense wasn’t all that good either.
I’m not criticizing the Boston writers for their sympathies for the guy. Just noting that while the east coast media are often described as tougher than nails and highly critical, they have their sappy side too. Indeed, it seems like every other year either the Boston or New York people fall in love with some amiable-yet-replaceable fill-in like McDonald at the same moment they’re ripping someone who is actually a key contributor to the team.
They’re not always good, not always bad. Just . . .complicated.