By Matt Snyder

Exactly two months after signing a minor-league deal with the Washington Nationals, Mike Cameron has decided to call it a career, according to the club.

Cameron appeared to be a possibility as a center-field platoon partner with either Roger Bernadina or Rick Ankiel -- both of whom are left-handed -- but now the Nats are without a righty option. Of course, if Bryce Harper makes the team out of spring, the plan is to play Jayson Werth in center every day.

Cameron, 39, closes with a good career resume. In 17 seasons, he hit .249/.338/.444 with 278 home runs, 968 RBI, 1,064 runs and 297 stolen bases. He won three Gold Gloves, made one All-Star Game and received MVP votes two times. He has a shot at getting on the Hall of Fame ballot (Bill Mueller and Tony Womack were on this year's, for example), but no shot of getting in.

He never spent more than four years with the same ballclub, playing for eight different franchises: The Mariners, White Sox, Mets, Red Sox, Padres, Brewers, Reds and Marlins. Amazingly, as you can see, he played in every single division.

He was also involved in two pretty big transactions as part of trades in exchange for both Ken Griffey Jr. and Paul Konerko.

The highlight of Cameron's career had to be on May 2, 2002, when he hit four home runs in one game -- becoming the 13th player in big-league history to accomplish the feat.

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By Matt Snyder

The Washington Nationals have agreed to sign free agent outfielder Mike Cameron to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training, the club announced Monday afternoon.

Cameron, 38, split time between the Red Sox and Marlins last season, hitting .203/.285/.359 with nine home runs in 269 plate appearances. He was once an All-Star and long a productive player, but he's certainly in the final stages of his playing career.

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The Nationals have been searching for a center fielder for quite a while, but don't expect Cameron to be their fix. Instead, unless a trade can be reached for someone like B.J. Upton or Denard Span, Cameron is simply insurance in the outfield. It looks like Roger Bernadina will be the center fielder until Jayson Werth is moved to center to accomodate the right fielder of the future: Top prospect Bryce Harper. And that could come as early as opening day, according to various reports from Nationals beat writers.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

What if players were only permitted to stay with the team that originally made them a professional? No trades, no Rule-5 Draft, no minor or major league free agency ... once you are a professional baseball player, you stay in that organization. This series shows how all 30 teams would look. We give you: Homegrown teams. To view the schedule/past entries of this feature, click here.

If there's an opposite of the Oakland A's and Billy Beane's Moneyball, it's Kenny Williams and the White Sox. The White Sox have not drafted well and searched to fill holes through free agency, spending money and taking big chances in trades. While Williams' way makes him the butt of some jokes and nobody's making a movie about him anytime soon, he does have something Beane doesn't have -- a World Series trophy.

Lineup

1. Alexei Ramirez, SS
2. Gordon Beckham, 2B
3. Michael Morse, 1B
4. Chris Young, CF
5. Carlos Lee, DH
6. Magglio Ordonez, RF
7. Ryan Sweeney, LF
8. Brent Morel, 3B
9. Chris Stewart, C

Starting Rotation

1. Mark Buehrle
2. Gio Gonzalez
3. Daniel Hudson
4. Brandon McCarthy
5. Clayton Richard

Bullpen

Closer - Jon Rauch
Set up - Matt Guerrier, Chris Sale, Addison Reed, Boone Logan, John Ely
Long - Lucas Harrell

Notable Bench Players

Not surprisingly, when looking at the state of the organization (and the state of that lineup), the White Sox are thin on bench players, with Dayan Viciedo making a push for the starting lineup as well as Chris Getz on the infield and Mike Cameron in the outfield.

What's Good?

There's no Adam Dunn, for starters. The rotation is good, especially at the top with Buehrle and Gonzalez. The rest of the rotation is good enough, as well. While Rauch isn't the top closer around, the rest of the bullpen is talented.

What's Not?

The lineup isn't going to strike fear into too many pitching staffs, even though there are nice pieces. The corner outfielder and DH are all on the down side of their career. There's also not much depth on the roster among position players.

Comparison to real 2011

The White Sox finished 79-83 in 2011, thanks to poor seasons from Dunn, Morel, Beckham and Alex Rios. The rotation is likely a little better in real life than this team, while the bullpen is better here than in real life, evening out. The lineup may not put up a lot of runs, but the White Sox didn't, either. The real team has an impact bat in Paul Konerko and a good complimentary piece in Carlos Quentin. This lineup doesn't have those kinds of weapons, so I'm not so sure our hypothetical team could match the 79 wins the White Sox finished with in 2011.

Next: Baltimore Orioles

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By Matt Snyder

The Marlins released Mike Cameron Monday, and then Tuesday some reports surfaced saying that Cameron was released for conduct detrimental to the team. Wednesday, another report shed further light on the issue.

Cameron got into an altercation with a flight attendant on the Marlins' chartered flight from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, reports the Miami Herald. It wasn't a physical confrontation, but it was bad enough that a complaint was filed against Cameron and the Marlins didn't feel they could keep him on the team. It's worth noting that Cameron -- age 38 -- is not in the Marlins' long-term plans and his release enables them to use more younger players for the final two weeks of the season.

We'll be careful to not speculate as to the severity of the reported and alleged altercation, as it could be a misunderstanding the Marlins just didn't want to deal with, or it could be very serious. Anywhere on that line is possible, so drawing conclusions would be folly. Cameron does have a clean off-field record, as he was suspended once for 25 games for testing positive for a banned stimulant, but has never had run-ins with the police or anything like that.

If it does turn out to be something even remotely bad, there's a good chance Cameron's career is over. He'd open next season as a 39-year-old outfielder with declining defensive skills who hit .203/.285/.359 this season. Add possible off-field baggage to that and consider he hasn't made less than $2 million per year since 1999.

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By Evan Brunell

Just days after hinting as to retirement, the Marlins released Mike Cameron for "conduct detrimental to the team," the team announced, providing no other details. However, Fox Sports' Jon-Paul Morosi says the Marlins wanted to play younger players and Cameron wanted to spend more time with his children.

"Not easy," manager Jack McKeon said when asked how Cameron took it. "Who would? But he knew he wasn't going to play much the rest of the year. We're going to go with some kids."

Based on that, perhaps Cameron reacted negatively when told the team was playing younger kids the rest of the way. That's pure speculation, though.

Cameron has been beseiged by injuries the last two seasons, playing earlier in the season with the Red Sox. In 164 plate appearances for the Marlins, Cameron hit .238/.331/.420 with six homers, this coming after a .149/.212/.266 display in 105 PA for Boston, whom he also played for in 2010, which was cut short due to a kidney stone and abdominal tear.

If the Marlins did release Cameron due to unbecoming conduct, it will come as a surprise as Cameron has been widely considered a great mentor, leader and overall good guy in all of his stops over his baseball career. But these are the Marlins we're talking about, who make curious decision after curious decision, so who really knows what happened. Either way, Cameron showed enough in his stint with Florida and his reputation is strong, so this incident won't be a setback if he opts to keep playing. He'll likely take the rest of the season off before trying to find a team he can fit with next season or hang up his cleats.

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By Evan Brunell

Mike Cameron, currently in his 17th season, hinted that he may retire after the season, the Palm Beach Post writes.

“It’s a small window that’s wide open,” he said. “I’m not going to make a decision now because there are too many variables much more than how I feel.”

The Marlin, who played earlier this season with the Red Sox, has been set back with a sore hamstring. The formerly durable outfielder has been brittle the last two seasons, struggling with the hamstring, a left wrist sprain, a double sports hernia that required surgery and a kidney stone. The 38-year-old is hitting .239/.333/.423 with Florida in 163 plate appearances.

“I may be too young to quit, but my body’s telling me different. My body’s 45,” he said.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

Willie Bloomquist, Diamondbacks: Bloomquist's two-run triple in the eighth inning may have been the final nail in the defending champions' 2011 coffin. Ryan Vogelsong held the Diamondbacks scoreless into the eighth inning before Ryan Roberts homered and then after Gerardo Parra singled and Geoff Blum walked, Bloomquist fired Ramon Ramirez's first pitch into the corner in right, scoring the eventual winning runs. With the 4-1 victory, Arizona leaves San Francisco up seven games in the division with 22 games remaining for each team.

Shaun Marcum, Brewers: Marcum again showed why the Brewers could be a team to be reckoned with in the postseason. Although Zack Greinke was the team's most high-profile pickup in the offseason, Marcum's been just as good, if not better. Marcum, acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays, improved to 12-5 with a 3.11 ERA after allowing just one hit and a walk in seven innings in a 4-0 victory over the Astros. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning when Jordan Schafer singled up the middle with one out. No Astro made it to second base until the eighth when Francisco Rodriguez walked J.B. Shuck and then a single to Jason Bourgeois. However, Rodriguez recovered to retire the next two batters he faced to quell the scare. With the win and the Cardinals' loss to the Reds, Milwaukee now leads the NL Central by 9 1/2 games.

Derek Jeter, Yankees: Many of us said Jeter was too old and should just be sent out back and shot (or, you know, out to stud or whatever Derek Jeter will do after he's done with baseball), but those of us who said that (with me raising my hand right here) were wrong. The Captain didn't just go 2 for 5, tying a career-high five RBI in Sunday's 9-3 rout of Toronto, but since the All-Star break he's hitting .343/.397/.448. The one thing he hasn't done much of in that span is hit homers, but he had his second of the second half on Sunday and first since July 25. However, on a team with Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson, the Yankees don't need Jeter to hit homers, just be on base when the others do.

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John Lackey, Red Sox: A favorite whipping boy of Red Sox fans, Lackey looked as if he were getting it together -- going five straight starts without giving up more than four earned runs (baby steps, people, baby steps). That streak ended on Sunday. Lackey allowed six runs on eight hits in five-plus innings of work. He didn't retire a batter in the Rangers' seven-run sixth inning, leaving after allowing three straight singles, threw a wild pitch and then walked a batter before being lifted. Lefty Felix Doubront gave up Lackey's final three runs and then three of his own in a 11-4 Rangers victory.

Mark Reynolds, Orioles: The Orioles third baseman committed two errors in the Orioles' 8-1 loss to the Rays, taking over the lead in the majors for errors, leapfrogging shortstops Elvis Andrus of the Rangers and Starlin Castro of the Cubs, who both have 25 errors. Reynolds hadn't started a game at third base since Aug. 14, but was moved back to third on Sunday to give Robert Andino a day off. Reynolds booted a two-out grounder with bases loaded in the third inning and led to four unearned runs in the inning. Reynolds' fielding percentage is down to .897 at third base. He's dead last in pretty much any fielding stat you want to name, UZR, UZR/150 and fielding percentage among them -- and it's not really close. Among qualified third basemen, none have a fielding percentage less than .940.

David Herndon, Phillies: His 2-1 pitch to Mike Cameron with bases loaded in the bottom of the 14th was close -- but his 3-1 pitch wasn't, as Herndon walked in Emilio Bonifacio to give Florida a 5-4 victory. Herndon loaded the bases in the 13th inning, but got out of it. He couldn't repeat the feat in the 14th, despite not allowing a ball out of the infield. In 3 2/3 innings, he walked seven batters -- so really blaming one call on one pitch doesn't carry much weight.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

The Red Sox have designated outfielder Mike Cameron for assignment and recalled infielder Yamaico Navarro, the team announced.

In his second season in Boston, Cameron has been limited by injuries and ineffectiveness. Cameron hit .149/.212/.266 with three home runs in 33 games and 105 plate appearances this season. He was limited to 48 games in 2010, his first with the Red Sox.

The 38-year-old has played parts of 17 seasons with seven teams and hit 24 home runs in 2009 with the Brewers. In two seasons with the Brewers, he hit 49 home runs and drove in 140 runs.

The move comes after the Red Sox released a lineup featuring left-handed hitting Josh Reddick in left field instead of the right-handed hitting Cameron against Philadelphia left-hander Cole Hamels.

Reddick is hitting .438/.474/.688 with a home run in 13 games and 38 plate appearances this season. The 24-year-old has four hits in six plate appearances against left-handers this season.

Navarro has played six different positions for Triple-A Pawtucket: second, third, shortstop and all three outfield spots. He's hitting .258/.362/.469 at Pawtucket this season.

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