Shawn Camp

A righty middle reliever that averages less than 88 mph on his fastball is never going to be a star, but Camp was serviceable, with a 54:21 K:BB ratio in 77.2 innings and a 3.59 ERA. Look for another season in middle relief, as Camp re-signed with the Cubs in November and doesn't appear to be on any sort of path to becoming a closer at this stage of his career.

Camp had a serviceable season out of the Jays' bullpen, but it wasn't on par with his previous couple of seasons and it resulted in him not being offered arbitration by Toronto. He's never been a high strikeout guy (6.2 K/9IP for his career) and has become more reliant on command and control in recent years. He'll latch on somewhere but the skill set is dwindling with his strikeout rate dropping in each of the last four years so his days as a nice staff filler in deeper formats may be behind him.

Camp gave the Jays another serviceable season out of the bullpen in 2010 and has moved up the pecking order this offseason with some other arms departing via free agency. The Jays are still looking for a closer, and while Jason Frasor is returning, it's not out of the question that Camp could enter the picture at some point. A declining K/9 rate (8.1, 7.1, 6.6, 5.7 the last four years) and an inability to handle lefties (.324 average, .889 OPS in his career) could make for some combustible save chances if given the chance, however. He's an OK staff filler in deeper formats but doesn't really do anything well enough to help out most fantasy squads.

Camp had another serviceable season (1.280 WHIP, 3.50 ERA) out of the Toronto bullpen despite a 2-6 record. The Jays brought him back with a one-year deal over the winter, but Camp doesn't really do anything well enough to warrant much attention on draft day. He'll pitch in middle relief for the Jays again this season.

Camp's first season as a Blue Jay was a successful one, limiting right-handed batters to a .204/.267/.247 line in 93 at-bats. His overall numbers (4.12 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 31 strikeouts in 39.1 innings) were hurt by his inability to handle lefties, and that keeps him out of any high leverage innings. He'll presumably be back in a middle relief role for the Jays again.

Even though Camp was a closer for a brief time last season, he wasn't all that effective. With his 1.49 WHIP, that 4.68 ERA really should have been above five. He's not likely to be in the mix for the closer role with the Rays this spring, and there's no reason to get excited about Camp otherwise.

A career minor-leaguer, Camp was reborn in Kansas City in 2004 when he provided some nice middle relief and a couple of saves. Last season, however, Camp returned to his Quadruple-A form that in a competitive Royals bullpen will likely mean more time in Triple-A than in Kansas City in 2006.

Other than being known as the guy sent down in order to make room for Zach Greinke’s first major-league start, Camp’s 2004 season wasn’t memorable. He showed flashes but not enough of them to keep from shuttling between Triple-A Omaha and the big leagues. He did put together a nice early September – going eight innings without allowing a run – but finished the season allowing runs in the final five outings. The good news is he doesn’t walk many and has a nice slider that can help him record nearly a strikeout per inning. The bad news is he is turning 30 at the end of the 2005 season and will be in an uphill fight for a roster spot.