Insanely locked-in Junior Caminero night just reinforced Guardians' fumble

On Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Rays played in their first game on ESPN since 2021. And Junior Caminero made sure to not miss his moment. 

After being pitched around in his first four at-bats, Caminero stepped up in the ninth inning and got a fastball over the middle from Red Sox pitcher Ryan Watson… and he responded by slugging it 449 feet to dead center field. 

While the Worldwide Leader in Sports doesn’t carry as much weight in today’s MLB landscape due to changes in the broadcast landscape, Caminero’s blast was icing on the cake in a huge Rays win that helped Tampa keep pace in the American League East. 

It also provided Guardians fans with yet another reminder of how much of a mistake the Guardians made by trading Caminero to the Rays after the 2021 season. 

The Guardians' trade of Junior Caminero continues to age like milk

For the uninitiated, the Guardians traded Caminero to the Rays after the 2021 season in exchange for pitcher Tobias Myers. Camerino (who was 18 years old at the time) had just finished a season in the Dominican Summer League where he had a .295 batting average with nine home runs in 43 games. 

But, with José Ramírez entrenched at third, the Guardians front office decided to trade Caminero in exchange for Myers, who showcased a high strikeout potential in the minor leagues. 

Myers lasted a half season in the Guardians’ organization before being DFA’d midway through the 2022 season after he posted a 6.00 ERA in 60 Triple-A innings. 

Meanwhile Camerino had an incredible ascent through the Rays’ system and ended up becoming the No. 1 prospect in baseball during 2024. 

Caminero introduced himself to the baseball world last season with a 45 homer, 110 RBI season that resulted in him earning the first All-Star nod of his career. He also added insult to injury with a multi-homer game against the Guardians at Progressive Field. 

Caminero’s off to another strong start this season, as he has an OPS of .864 with 10 home runs through 37 games. It hasn’t been all great (he’s been worth -7 Outs Above Average at third and has recorded an MLB-leading six errors), but the Rays will take that poor defense so long as he continues to send balls to the moon. 

The Guardians got a bit of vindication at the end of last season when Ramírez beat Camerino out for the AL Silver Slugger at third base, but that will likely be a minor blip in what should be a fruitful career for Caminero. 

In 2023 Chris Antonetti stated the obvious when he called  the Guardians’ decision to trade Camerino “a bad trade.” While Antonetto’s time leading the Guardians has been filled with plenty of trade fleeces, their decision to trade Camerino is just going to continue to age like milk.

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