The most interesting story, to my mind, was Mike Cameron’s. Late Friday, it appeared that the Padres were in good shape to sign him. By Saturday evening, there was word that the A’s had moved to the front of the pack, having beaten the Padres’ offer. By early Sunday, though, Cameron was a Met, accepting a three-year deal for $7 million per, the highest average value that had been attached to Cameron’s name, and it wasn’t close. There was a round of "not about the money" talk after the deal. The Mets’ players helped recruit Cameron, and the center fielder’s Atlanta roots were played up. Maybe those things came into play, but the fact is, no one else was offering Cameron seven million bucks a year. He did well for himself in a market with lots of outfielders and more on the way. Cameron becomes the Mets’ best defensive center fielder since…well, he might be the best in their history. The Mets have employed both Richie Ashburn and Willie Mays, but both well after their primes. Cameron is an upgrade over the Roger Cedeno/Timo Perez class, and like Kazuo Matsui, makes the team better.