Why the heck did the Nationals sign Mike Cameron?

Mike Cameron / Icon SMI

The Nationals made a bizarre move by signing Mike Cameron. Granted, it's a minor league deal so there's very little risk, but they can't have very high hopes for him.

Here are the players who, over their Age 37 and 38 seasons, had between 400 and 500 total plate appearances with an OPS+ of 77 to 87:

Rk	Player	Year	PA	OPS+	From	To	G	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Mike Cameron	2011	449	82	2010	2011	126	399	21	0	13	42	.226	.302	.376	.678	/*897D	BOS-TOT
2	So Taguchi	2008	443	79	2007	2008	218	398	20	1	3	39	.274	.335	.352	.687	/7894	STL-PHI
3	J.T. Snow	2006	463	81	2005	2006	155	411	17	2	4	44	.268	.343	.348	.691	*3/D	SFG-BOS
4	Bobby Bonilla	2001	476	81	2000	2001	207	413	20	3	10	49	.237	.336	.373	.709	/739D15	ATL-STL
5	Ryne Sandberg	1997	480	83	1997	1997	135	447	26	0	12	64	.264	.308	.403	.711	*4/D	CHC
6	Tony Pena	1995	405	83	1994	1995	131	375	23	1	7	38	.272	.314	.395	.709	*2	CLE
7	Minnie Minoso	1964	401	80	1963	1964	139	346	12	2	5	35	.228	.318	.318	.636	/*759	WSA-CHW
8	Joe Judge	1932	415	83	1931	1932	118	365	19	3	3	38	.263	.345	.356	.702	/*3	WSH
9	Edd Roush	1931	400	79	1931	1931	101	376	12	5	1	41	.271	.308	.338	.646	/87	CIN
10	George Sisler	1930	470	81	1930	1930	116	431	15	7	3	67	.309	.346	.397	.743	*3	BSN
11	Art Fletcher	1922	431	82	1922	1922	110	396	20	5	7	53	.280	.325	.409	.734	*6	PHI

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/19/2011.

This is actually a pretty good group of players. But, here's what that group did for the rest of their careers, i.e. Age 39 season onward:

Rk	Player	OPS+	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	So Taguchi	79	2009	2009	39-39	6	12	11	3	1	0	0	0	.273	.333	.364	.697	/*79	CHC
2	Joe Judge	78	1933	1934	39-40	87	265	235	61	12	2	0	33	.260	.323	.328	.651	/*3	TOT-BOS
3	Tony Pena	27	1996	1997	39-40	107	293	260	49	8	0	1	37	.188	.255	.231	.486	*2/5	CLE-TOT
4	Minnie Minoso	-42	1976	1980	50-54	5	10	10	1	0	0	0	0	.100	.100	.100	.200	/*D	CHW
5	J.T. Snow		2008	2008	40-40	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0					/*3	SFG

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/19/2011.

If the player doesn't appear, it's because he didn't play anymore.

I'm not sure what the Nats think Cameron has left.