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The Detroit Tigers have had an on-again, off-again relationship with Cameron Maybin since he first arrived in the Motor City in 2007, but they’ve parted ways with the outfielder again, trading him to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

The Detroit Free Press‘ Anthony Fenech and Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal both reported the Angels plan to pick up Maybin’s $9 million club option for 2017.

According to the Orange County Register‘s Jeff Fletcher, the Angels will send right-handed pitcher Victor Alcantara to the Tigers in exchange for Maybin.  

ESPN The Magazine‘s Buster Olney provided two reasons that fueled the Angels’ desire to make a deal: 

Thursday marks the second time in as many offseasons that Maybin has been moved, with last year’s trade from the Atlanta Braves to the Tigers representing a welcome change of scenery. 

Maybin proceeded to experience a career year that saw him post a slash line of .315/.383/.418 with four home runs and 43 RBI. Maybin also stole 15 bases—marking the fourth time in his career that he has cracked 15 swipes. 

Thanks to his resurgence at the plate, Maybin tallied a career-best 3.1 offensive wins above replacement—which ranked fourth among all Tigers behind Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler and J.D. Martinez. 

As for Maybin’s defensive future in L.A., Rosenthal reported the early expectation is that he will be stationed in left field beside Mike Trout.

Maybin represents an immediate upgrade in left field after Rafael Ortega, Daniel Nava and Nick Buss served as a three-pronged platoon for the Angels throughout the 2016 season, but he will need to stay healthy for the investment to be worth it.

Maybin appeared in only 94 of 162 games last year because of wrist, shoulder, thumb and quad injuries, and he made just 95 appearances for the San Diego Padres in 2014.

But if Maybin staves off the medical woes and stays hot at the plate, the Angels could have a bargain on their hands as they try to return to the postseason for the first time since 2014. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. 

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The Detroit Tigers will be without center fielder Cameron Maybin for Monday’s game against the Seattle Mariners because of concerns over his thumb, per Evan Woodbery of MLive.com.

Continue for updates.

Maybin Scheduled for CT Scan

Monday, Aug. 8

Woodbery, who noted Maybin’s thumb was “still giving him problems,” reported the outfielder will undergo a CT scan Tuesday morning. Maybin did take batting practice before Monday’s game, but his thumb was wrapped, according to Woodbery.

Maybin hasn’t played since Detroit’s Aug. 3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

This isn’t the first health issue for Maybin in 2016. He didn’t make his debut this season until May 16 because of a wrist injury and has appeared in only 63 contests. However, he has been an important part of Detroit’s lineup when healthy and is slashing .325/.394/.398 with two home runs, 29 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

Maybin set career highs with 10 homers and 59 RBI for the Atlanta Braves last season and stole 40 bases for the San Diego Padres in 2011.

While he’s posted impressive offensive numbers for the Tigers in limited action this season, he has struggled to replicate his past effectiveness in the field. He is responsible for minus-11 total defensive runs saved above average in center field this year after posting a minus-16 mark last year, per FanGraphs. For context, he was plus-14 in 2011.

Detroit will likely turn to Tyler Collins, who’s hitting .250 with three home runs, until Maybin returns. Andrew Romine is also versatile enough to play center, but the Tigers need Maybin’s speed and bat in the order if they plan on catching the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central.

They trailed Cleveland by two games entering play Monday.

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Eight years after he left as part of the Dontrelle Willis/Miguel Cabrera trade, Cameron Maybin is back with the Detroit Tigers.

The Atlanta Braves announced Friday they sent the veteran outfielder to the Tigers for Ian Krol and Gabe Speier.

After the trade was confirmed, Maybin tweeted out his appreciation of his one year in Atlanta:

In 141 games last year, Maybin hit .267/.327/.370 with 10 home runs, 59 RBI and 23 stolen bases. Offensively, 2015 was his best season since his first two years with the San Diego Padres in 2011 and 2012. Maybin has fallen off a bit defensively, but he is still a talented hitter when healthy.

The 28-year-old is a risky addition for the Tigers given his extensive injury history—215 missed games between 2013 and 2014—but could turn into a big piece for Detroit if he can repeat last year’s numbers.

He could also provide some much-needed consistency for the Tigers in center field. According to Hardball Talk’s Aaron Gleeman, the team used 16 different players at the position since letting Maybin go.

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi is a fan of the trade from a Tigers perspective:

The trade is another cost-cutting move for Atlanta as it continues its full rebuild. The Braves sent Justin Upton and Craig Kimbrel to the Padres last offseason and dealt Andrelton Simmons to the Los Angeles Angels earlier in November.

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, trading Maybin results in a roughly $6.5 million salary savings for the Braves.

Some Braves fans might have expected the team to get back more than two relief pitchers in return for Maybin. Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra was particularly harsh regarding Atlanta’s haul:

Neither Krol nor Speier projects to be a major part of that rebuilding plan. Krol appeared in 33 games for the Tigers in 2015, posting a 5.79 ERA in 28 innings. Speier spent last year in Single-A, going 4-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 33 relief appearances.

At the very least, the trade continues the Braves’ organizational trend of acquiring young arms who can either play a role in the big leagues down the road or be packaged together in future deals.

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With the 2012 MLB season just a few weeks away, it’s time to get to the nitty-gritty of the fantasy baseball sleepers for this season.

This piece will discuss the top three sleeper sluggers that fantasy owners can wait a few rounds longer on and still reap the rewards.

All of the following MLB stars will have stellar 2012 seasons, so feel free to grab them as late as physically possible.

Hunter Pence

The Philadelphia Phillies are starting the season down two men, with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard both nursing injuries that could cost them extended periods of the 2012 season.

With that said, they need Hunter Pence to deliver an MVP-quality season. That’s exactly what he will do in his first full season in Phillies pinstripes. Fantasy owners should be scooping Pence up early.

After putting up a stellar .324 batting average with 11 home runs and 34 RBI in just 54 games with the Phillies last season, Pence will look to shock the world and become the Phillies’ go-to guy.

Austin Jackson

After a superb rookie season in 2010, Detroit Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson had a mediocre 2011 that saw him bat .249 and strike out 181 times.

With the addition of a slugger like Prince Fielder to an already talented offensive bunch, Jackson should see more quality pitches to hit this season. No doubt teams will want to face the center fielder instead of Fielder or Cabrera.

If you can wait until the later rounds to snag him, that’s your best bet. If he starts getting talked about in the middle rounds, take him and reap the fantasy benefits.

Cameron Maybin

After already bouncing around in his short MLB career, it’s time for 24-year-old outfielder Cameron Maybin to have the breakout season everyone wants from him.

In 2011, his first season with the San Diego Padres, Maybin made a huge mark, with 82 runs scored and 40 stolen bases. If he can continue to build confidence in a lineup that offers little help offensively, he will be a great mid-round fantasy steal.

While there is plenty of risk, as there is nobody in the Padres lineup to prevent pitchers from pitching around Maybin, his base-stealing ability will discourage much of that.

Check back for more on the Major League Baseball as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s MLB Page to get your fill of all things baseball.

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In the past week the Pittsburgh Pirates have extended outfielder Andrew McCutchen and the San Diego Padres have extended outfielder Cameron Maybin. Thinking ahead, how much will it take to keep Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury in a Boston uniform?

McCutchen, only in the league for three years so far, just received a six-year, $51.5 million dollar extension to keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2017 and possibly 2018 seasons if they choose to pick up a $14.75 million club option.

Through three seasons, McCutchen has hit .276/.365/.458 with 51 home runs, 199 RBI, 225 runs scored and 78 stolen bases. He finished fourth in the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year voting and made his first career All-Star appearance last season.

Maybin came up with the Detroit Tigers in 2007 before being traded to Florida in the deal that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. After playing for the Marlins for three seasons, Maybin was traded to the San Diego Padres, where he spent the 2011 season.

Maybin has just agreed to a five-year, $25 million extension with a club option for 2017. In his five year career, Maybin has hit .255/.318/.386 with 22 home runs, 85 RBI, 175 runs scored and 59 stolen bases.

ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote an article explaining how Eric Hosmer, first baseman for the Kansas City Royals, will be the next young star to sign a long-term deal, but another player to consider is Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

After finishing third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2008, Ellsbury had great year in 2009. Injuries plagued his 2010 campaign but he erupted back onto the Boston scene last season, showing off his power, speed, and fielding skills.

Playing in a career-high 158 games last season, Ellsbury hit .321/.376/.552 with 32 home runs, 105 RBI, 39 stolen bases, and 119 runs while finishing second in the AL MVP voting. Ellsbury was named to his first All-Star team while also winning a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award.

Ellsbury is only under Boston’s control through the 2013 season and the club would like to lock him up for the long-run. MLB Trade Rumors recently named Ellsbury as an extension candidate, although they caution that maybe it would be in Boston’s best interest to wait to see how he performs this year to see if 2011 was a fluke or truly representative of his level of play.

If Ellsbury can prove to GM Ben Cherington that he’s the real deal, a large, long-term contract for the speedy outfielder should be coming soon.

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There’s no way around it or no easier way to put it.  A lack of offense has resulted in a lack of wins for the San Diego Padres.

It was a welcoming site when Will Venable singled up the middle to put a run on the board in the Padres’ 3-1 loss against the Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay Sunday.  Halladay fanned 14, coming within one out of their third shutout of the Padres during a four-game sweep at PETCO Park.

The Padres have scored just three runs in their last 32 innings and besides scoring five runs in the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs Wednesday, the Padres have scored just four runs in their past six games.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the Padres (8-14) are last in the MLB in runs scored (62) and batting average (.214).

To put those numbers into perspective, the Cincinnati Reds have scored 114 runs and the St. Louis Cardinals lead MLB with a .295 team BA.

What is most frustrating about the inept offensive numbers is the production the club is getting out of the pitching staff—without a fully equipped Mat Latos.

In the midst of losing six of their last seven games, the Friars’ staff hasn’t allowed more than four runs in a single game.  On the season, their starting pitching ranks second with 15 quality starts and also have an MLB’s second-best team ERA (2.94).

A prime example of the Padres inefficiency at the plate is the curious case of Dustin Moseley and his 0-3 start.

Moseley has turned in four quality starts, an ERA (1.40) good enough for third best in MLB, but has a 0-3 record to show because the Padres have given him just one run in support.

Aaron Harang (1.87 ERA) has been just as good in his return to his hometown, with a win in each of his starts.  The only difference is the Padres have provided Harang with 19 runs.

The only every day starter batting above .300 is Nick Hundley (.309). As a result, Bud Black has been changing the batting order on his lineup card daily.

The most recent move was the flip-flop of Will Venable (.172) with Cameron Maybin (.260) at the top of the order.  

Besides Maybin and Hundley, no other Padre starter is batting above .250: Jason Bartlett (.242), Orlando Hudson (.229), Chase Headley (.227), Ryan Ludwick (.194). 

Jorge Cantu and Brad Hawpe, who platoon at first base, are batting .145 and 1.04, respectively. 

“We’ve got to keep working, and we’ve got to grind through this,” Padres manager Bud Black told MLB.com.   “We’ve got to keep doing our work in the cage and watching video. We have to keep working our [rear ends] off to get to where we need to be.”

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Adrian Gonzalez? Gone. David Eckstein? History. The Hairstons? Adios.

Miguel Tejada? Auf Weidersehen. Yorvit Torrealba? Movin on..

You get the picture. The Padres will be a different team in 2011.

The question becomes “Is different better?” I know that what I see on paper right now looks much better than the last two seasons teams did at this same point. Lets take a look at what should be the Padres starting line up for opening day.

Begin Slideshow

In Cameron Maybin’s defense, he hasn’t played an inning in a Padre uniform yet. But that inexperience didn’t keep him from making headlines Monday.

Because for all of the positives that social media represents, it also has its drawbacks. Unfortunately, Maybin found out about the drawbacks the hard way.

After dining at Panda Express, a fast-food style restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine, Maybin had an opinion about the food. So, he decided to do what every other athlete seems to be doing these days.

He took it to Twitter:

“Never eat panda express sh*ts had me feeling awful for 2 days back on my grind tomorrow, We got action…”

It didn’t take long for Maybin to remove that post after it was brought to his attention that Tom Davin, the CEO of Panda Express, also has part-ownership of the Padres.

Suddenly, this tweet appeared on Maybin’s feed:

“Man just got back on the wagon panda express was great today, now I’m ready for action…. Best oriental cuisine around… Let’s go…!”

Lesson learned: Think before you tweet—or at least pay better attention to your fortune cookie.

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The San Diego Padres were the biggest surprise of the 2010 season, as they led the NL West for most of the year only to fall just short of the playoffs. Solid pitching, consistent defense, and timely hitting were the recipe for success for a team with only one true superstar in Adrian Gonzalez.   

As spring training quickly approaches, the team has numerous unanswered questions, including how well will the offense will perform without Adrian Gonzalez. Will the acquisitions of Brad Hawpe, Jason Bartlett, and Cameron Maybin fill the void that Gonzalez left when the team traded him to the Red Sox this off season?

In addition, will the young pitching staff continue to provide the league’s best ERA, despite receiving some of the worst run support in the National League?  

Key Acquisitions:

Jason Bartlett (SS)

Brad Hawpe (1B,OF)

Cameron Maybin (OF)

Orlando Hudson (2B, SS)

Key Losses: 

Adrian Gonzalez – Traded to Boston

Miguel Tejada – Signed with San Francisco  

Players to Target 

The two players who have the most fantasy value in 2011 are closer Heath Bell and starting pitcher Mat Latos. Bell had a career best 47 saves in 2010, posting an impressive 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings with an ERA of 1.93.

Latos emerged as the team’s ace in 2010, posting a 14-10 record with a 2.93 ERA in only his second major league season. I look for Latos to have similar stats in 2011, as he will likely have close to 200 K’s with double digit wins.

I am a little concerned that Bell will not have as  many save opportunities due to the overall struggles the team will likely endure. Bell will still be a top 10 closer, however I would be surprised if he has a third straight season of 40 plus saves.

Sleeper 

Cameron Maybin was drafted tenth overall in the 2005 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers, and was ranked by Baseball America as the third best hitting prospect in that draft. That promise has yet to come to fruition in the majors, and Maybin was traded to the Marlins as part of the Miguel Cabrera deal. The Marlins in turn traded Maybin to the Padres for a couple of pitchers after the 2010 season.  

The primary reason why Maybin is my sleeper choice for the Padres is his ability to steal bases and score runs.  Although he has yet to display his speed in the majors, Bud Black and the Padres are a running team that will utilize Maybin’s speed.  Look for him to steal 25 bases this year while scoring close to 100 runs, making him a decent sleeper in NL-only leagues.

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Dan Uggla was reportedly traded to the Atlanta Braves this afternoon for infielder Omar Infante and pitcher Mike Dunn.

It’s the third major trade in just a matter of days for the Florida Marlins, who also parted ways with pitcher Andrew Miller and outfielder Cameron Maybin earlier this week.

Uggla had no interest staying in a Marlins uniform after rejecting a four-year, $48 million contract extension last week, so it’s hard to fault Florida for trading their power-hitting second basemen. But is a career utility man and a rookie relief pitcher really fair value for one of the most productive offensive players in baseball?

Uggla, who can also play third and the outfield, has four consecutive seasons of at least 31 home runs. He’s a two-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger award winner in 2010. His career OPS is a pleasant .837 and he’s still only 30 years old. Those kinds of players don’t exactly grow on trees.

But players like Infante and Dunn do. 

Infante has never played in more than 142 games in his career and is typically used as a backup infielder all over the diamond. This past season with the Braves he finally got the chance to play on a near full-time basis and had an excellent year. He led the league in hitting for a time and finished with a .321 batting average. He also contributed a handful of doubles (15), home runs (8), and stolen bases (7). 

But just because the 28-year-old made his first All-Star team, doesn’t mean that he’s good enough to be an everyday second basemen (and certainly not one of Uggla’s caliber).

Dunn, meanwhile, came over to the Braves as part of the Javier Vazquez-Melky Cabrera deal and had a nice rookie season for Atlanta. In 25 games he had a 1.89 ERA and 27 strikeouts over 19 innings. Dunn looks like he could be a power lefty out of the bullpen for years to come. But 19 innings is hardly a sufficient sample size over which to trade one of your franchise players.

So why did the Marlins do it?

Well they had to trade Uggla for one. No sense in paying upwards of $10 million for a player who is guaranteed to sign elsewhere at the end of the season. But why sell so low?

The Marlins were desperate for relief help at the trade deadline and they’re still desperate for it now. Aside from closer Leo Nunez and set-up man Burke Badenhop, the Marlins relief corps had a difficult time finishing games last season. Out of 64 save opportunities, the Marlins only converted 39 of them for a 61 save percentage.

That’s horrifyingly bad. The Marlins finished with a 80-82 record, and 40 of those losses belonged to relievers. That’s the difference between a third place finish and a playoff berth. With Dunn aboard along with former Boston lefty Dustin Richardson and San Diego relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica, the Marlins now have a solid staff to back up a promising rotation.

But how do they replace Uggla’s bat?

Nobody in that lineup, Hanley Ramirez and Mike Stanton included, has the pop to equal Uggla’s production. Infante is a nice player but he’s a far cry from an intimidating hitter (45 career home runs in nine seasons).

It’s reasonable to assume that the always cost-conscious Marlins were looking to shed payroll so that they could afford to pay arbitration to some of their rising stars, like Nunez and Gaby Sanchez. But those players won’t be making big dollars for a few more years.

The more likely explanation is that the Marlins grew tired of waiting for Miller (25) and Maybin (23) to emerge as superstars and cut their losses to allow other players from their bursting minor league system to come up.

This is a perfectly reasonable course of action for a team in the midst of a long-term rebuilding project. But small market teams like the Marlins can’t afford to sell off potential All-Star talents for below market value.

Had they held on to Miller, Maybin, and Uggla till after the winter meetings, they would have been almost guaranteed to get better offers for each of their players. Decisive action is not always the correct action.

Marlins fans can only hope that they won’t be trying to figure out ways to beat their three former players as they rise to stardom in new cities.

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