The Angels wasted no time in filling their left field need this winter, as they announced on the first afternoon of the offseason that they’ve acquired Cameron Maybin from the Tigers in exchange for minor league righty Victor Alcantara and exercised Maybin’s $9MM club option for the 2017 season.
After an aggressive 2015-16 offseason, the Tigers shifted course recently, with GM Al Avila saying the team was going to prioritize getting younger and would no longer “play above its means.” Moving Maybin allows the Tigers to trim some money off the 2017 ledger without losing the talented outfielder for nothing, and they’ll now not only save his $9MM salary but also the $1MM they’d have paid by simply buying the option out. It remains to be seen what the Tigers are receiving in exchange, though the Angels notoriously have one of the league’s worst farm systems (if not the worst). Nonetheless, the Tigers can still pick up a piece or two to add to the farm system and better position themselves for the future.
Maybin, 30 in April, was originally drafted by the Tigers in the first round back in 2005 but found himself traded to the Marlins as one of the centerpieces of the Miguel Cabrera blockbuster (Andrew Miller was the other headliner). After bouncing around the National League a bit for the next several years, Maybin ended up back with the Tigers last season in a trade that sent Ian Krol and Gabe Speier to the Braves. A fractured wrist and a sprained thumb cost Maybin nearly half the season, but in the 94 games that he was healthy, he was quite productive, batting .315/.383/.415 with four home runs and 15 stolen bases. Defensive metrics have been down on Maybin’s work in center field for the past couple of years, but a move to left field should yield more favorable ratings.
Maybin will line up in the Halos’ outfield alongside superstar Mike Trout in center field and the highly undervalued Kole Calhoun in right field to give the Angels a talented and athletic trio of outfielders. With left field taken care of on the first day of the offseason, the Angels can quickly shift their focus to other areas of need this winter, namely second base, catcher and the pitching staff. As for the Tigers, the subtraction of Maybin will leave the team looking for center field help, although they could also turn to young JaCoby Jones in center field.
The 23-year-old Alcantara spent this past season with the Angels’ Double-A affiliate and logged a 4.30 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 4.6 BB/9 and a 55.6 percent ground-ball rate in 111 innings (20 starts, nine relief appearances). MLB.com rates Alcantara as the Halos’ No. 8 prospect and gives him a plus fastball and above-average slider on the 20-80 scouting scale. He’s been a starter for most of his minor league tenure, though the MLB.com report on him notes that Alcantara may not have the command or third pitch required to be a starter in the Majors and could instead be a highly effective reliever. Baseball America pegged him fourth among Angels farmhands in their midseason update and noted that his fastball velocity has dipped as he’s developed a more controlled delivery that is easier to repeat.
MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link) first reported that the Tigers were exploring trades for Maybin, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Angels were acquiring him (Twitter link). Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reported that Alcantara would head back to the Tigers (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Then why would they sign Upton to a mega deal
Everybody screws up sometime
That was 2016. Now for 2017 they want to cut payroll.
He’s available for trade, too.
Pizza pizza
Not a bad start. I always have liked Maybin but he just can’t stay healthy. He’s still fairly young and reasonably cheap. The defense should play up in left.
Braves should have kept him man dam
It’s hard to believe has 3,000 PA for some reason.
He’s very good. Surprised to see a player of this caliber traded so soon, but I guess the Tigers have Upton, Martinez, Moyà, and Stewart coming up soon
They only had four days to find a taker before they had to pay $1M to not have him on their roster. Now they don’t have him on their roster and they didn’t have to pay $1M.
So why not take the 4 days? I gotta believe someone else might have had an interest. I don’t think they got much for him. Good deal for the Angels.
I’m guessing they didn’t start making phone calls today. They called around over the last few weeks and could only make it official today.
I’d like to believe that. After Fister got traded for Robbie Ray and Steve Lombardozzi, I question everything. Its hard to believe that no other team could have topped that offer. DD liked to stockpile hard throwers, and his protégé just might have stopped looking when he heard 100 mph.
The Angels have the worst farm system in baseball. My guess is this is a salary dump and they were going to decline his option if he wasn’t traded.
Agree. Do we know what the got back ?
Angels next target should be Scooter Gennett
How about some pitching?
I don’t like the fact we had to trade Alcantara , he can throw 100mph and could of been a big reliever for the angels
Alcantara will almost certainly log negative WAR in a handful of big league auditions over the next few years before you completely forget that he ever existed.
And you base your “certainty” on what exactly? Tea leaves?
First-hand observation in both the Cal League and the AFL. Horrible mechanics, no meaningful secondary pitch, awful command.
Well they probably don’t feel he’s ready and not worth adding to the 40 man. So with his digits he’ll probably not get through rule 5 so might get something MLB caliber.
I heard he changed his delivery to make it easier to repeat
You just never know.. Frankie Montas was just like that.. Throw in 100mph kid throw in in the peavy deal way back in 2013, all of a sudden he figures out how to throw strikes and he’s a legit prospect and front end rotation prospect.
Frankie Montas had a viable second pitch when he was working as a 19-year-old in the GCL.
Alcantara is a 23-year-old with one pitch that is going in a completely unknown direction most of the time it leaves his hand.
Um we gave up a prospect that can throw over 100mph for Maybin? sounds like an overpay
a prospect that has no control whatsoever. not an overpay, nice deal.
An overpay? Dude he had an era of 4.30 in AA… the Angels farm system is garbage. And if you don’t see that then rip
That Angels farm has to be in the 5 worst in baseball. Wonder if Miggy will be moved. I assume Dombrowski would be the first to call since that’s his guy.
Only if the tigers eat most of the contract, and an overpay
Miggy had a 4.9WAR 152wRC+ and a .399wOBA with a 3.7UZR.
He is still a great player, but yes considering the remainder on the contract they would have to eat some.
If Red Sox offered a package of Bradley, Devers, Kopech, Owens , plus Tigers eating some money I would have to think Detroit would at least be interested if they are trying to get younger.
Sandaval involved from the Red Sox to even out the salary plus prospects.
Angels robbed Detroit blind, he’s worth a lot more than a bad 23 year old AA pitcher.
A meh guy who had the best year of his career randomly after like a decade of being bad? Nah, the Tigers could have declined his option and not turned too many heads
Maybin’s best season was 2011, when he had a 4.5 war.
The Angels saved Detroit $1M and gave them a pitcher to annoy the fans in Erie.
How do you figure? The Angels basically paid the tigers 1 million and a pitcher for a guy they were going to release anyway. No robbery there. With all his injury problems the Angels could have picked him up for less than his 9 mill option on the open market.
3+ WAR players don’t grow on trees, and that’s what a healthy Maybin is. Tigers could have gotten a much better prospect or two back than this one, Alcantara is genuinely bad, sure he can throw the ball 100 miles an hour but is entirely clueless about knowing how to pitch, hence his low K rate.
Sucks to see Detroit is still enamored with power arms who aren’t actually good, didn’t Fulmer teach them anything?
And 9 million for the contact
Please… First step in the Tigers massive rebuild. Dude will be a good middle reliever in a year or two at the Major league level. Come back in 2018 and let’s talk.
Really, what do the Angels gain by making this trade…. unless they picked him up for next to nothing.
Above avg. defense, historically low batting avg., extremely low, next to nothing HR numbers, will steal a base or two from time to time, your lucky if you get 20 doubles a year from him, and is a BIG strikeout guy. Where do you even bat him??? I really wanna like this trade, but all I see is a 4th outfielder. Am I missing something?
The guy you gave up throws 100, probally doesn’t make you feel any better.
jeez how many people are gonna say that he throws 100?? sure he’s got high potential, but he has zero control… which is sort of needed in the big leagues
Alcantara flamed out as a starter and walks way too many as a reliever, his ERA in the AFL is 13.50 who cares if he hits 100 on the gun.. With Maybin you get some speed, a solid bat, high OBP, solid defense for LF and he lengthens the lineup. Plus you are only committed to him for one year and you didn’t have to give up a draft pick. Not a bad first day of the off-season for Billy
I heard he throws 100
I heard he throws 160 km/ph
…
He is actually not a very good defender. His arm is well below average and he doesn’t always take great routes.
“historically low batting avg.”
Career .259 BA, hit .315 last year.
“is a BIG strikeout guy”
Had 69 K’s in 94 games last year.
I’m curious as to why you’d even bother writing such an ill-informed post. Do me a favor, in future, go to baseball-reference or fangraphs and have the players page open and check your work before posting just lies.
Amen. I am new to this board but what I found out already, is that a lot of posters make affirmations based on their beliefs or perceptions rather than stats.
It’s not really a lot. Just a handful of bozos. Especially in Angels threads. There seems to be a trolling epidemic on Angels fan pages and it’s leaked onto here.
Yes, you are. Actually, he was quite a nice player in Detroit. He hit excellent in Comerica, and brought a lot of energy to the team. That being said, he was an average to below average CF, with an inaccurate throwing arm. He’s fast, but doesn’t really steal many bases. And I will agree with everyone else, “he’s always injured”. If they had not been in the playoff picture till the last day, he would have missed a good portion of Sept. with a nagging wrist injury. I hope they get someone better defensively, but we will miss his bat. Currently, they don’t really have someone to take his place, so that’s a concern. I am surprised at how little they got for him. I wonder what the rush was.
The rush is a deadline for exercising options. Tigers saved a million and, for them, every million helps.
lol no it doesnt, it would help if it was 100 million not 1
Well, at least the Angels are trying. Or are they? With these types of moves it’s really hard to tell. They presumably could’ve waited 4 days for the Tigers to non-tender him and sign him to a cheaper deal without giving up the guy with the 100mph fastball. Guess the guys in Anaheim are desperate.
Yeah, seems to me that LAA could have signed Maybin or someone similar for $9MM or less.
Maybe the Angels are gun shy, or maybe Arte has so over-complicated the Angels’ decision making around free agents that Klentak & Co. just found it easier to trade for Maybin now.
he’s a 2 win outfielder if he can make it 500 pas on a 1 year deal. You aren’t getting that at 9mil.
Nope, he’s a 3-4 win OF if he gets 500 PAs.
He already had a 4.4 win season in SD. That’s worth 9 mill.
Agreed. On the open market, there’s no guarantee he signs for $9 million or less. So I really don’t see the problem with trading for a guy now rather than waiting for him to hit the free agent market and hope he wants to sign with your team.
Dude, he managed that once. His defense is shot, his baserunning is garbage, and his last full season resulted in a 0.6WAR. What he did 5 years ago means squat, especially with all his injuries. Just look at his 162-Game averages, he’s a 1-2WAR player. If he’s lucky, he gets $5-6MM/yr on the open market.
He also had a 2.2 win season when he got to 500 PAs in SD – and that was more recent. That was also back when he was adding value defensively. And four years ago.
He had a 500 PA season in 2015 and was <1 win.
That might still be a discount. David Murphy was making up to $6 MM and barely putting up a positive WAR in has last few years in the Majors.
The point is to avoid making mistake contracts like that one a core part of your roster construction strategy.
They got him for 1 year $9 million instead of 3 year $25 million in the open market.
Im sure the angels will use that 40 million coming off the books in other places, they need to make a run at chapman, melencon or jansen. Bring back Bailey. Maybe resign weaver, make a run at nova or hellickson.
I like this. They need to hit on some wild cards to realistically contend, if he can stay healthy, he may fit that mold
One sided …. typo
Make sense. Tigers had a $1M buyout. They get six years of control of a power arm and save that $1M.
Also, congrats to Tim and all Cubs fans everywhere.
And Indians fans… you have my sympathy.
Fun fact: 3 of the 4 teams that made it to the Championship Series this year have a starting pitcher that doesn’t consistently reach 90. Being able to pitch is much more important than being able to throw 100. You can be a very good big league pitcher at 87-89 if you have good secondary stuff and command. However, you can’t be successful with an 100 mph fastball and no command or secondary pitches, which is the case of Alcantara. Maybin is a really solid player, surprised he went for so little despite the deadline approaching on him. My guess is Jacoby Jones is taking over in CF
I wish the Tigers front office would read your fun fact and stop throwing away value for literally any human who can wear a uniform and throw a ball 100 mph.
If the Tigers only plan to develop him as a starter, than this fact becomes relevant (kind of). If the Tigers plan to turn him into a reliever than this fact becomes irrelevant. While relievers don’t need to throw 100 mph to be successful, it certainly helps. As a reliever, the guy has to only develop a respectable secondary pitch and develop some command. A lot to ask for, but still a reasonable expectation. If the Tigers were going to cut him anyway, it makes sense that teams wouldn’t offer more and the Tigers would take the “best” offer available. I agree that the Tigers probably could’ve gotten more but its a moot point now.
Stating that is also like stating fun fact every team in the playoffs had a reliever who throws 95+ sure there are starters and even a few right handed relievers that survive without the live fastball but it really helps when you have one. I look @ this deal as a lot of if’s if Maybin stays healthy, plays to his potential. If Alcantara learns to throw strikes. If you’re a Tigers fan it’s a salary dump with a lottery ticket chances are no one really wanted to gamble on Maybin anyways so why not take a chance on a guy with real upside not a guy who if all goes right might be a spot starter or bench piece.
So, it looks like the Angels will spend 2017 in denial as well.
Hey Angels fans, you finally got the LF you were craving since before the season started. That’s gotta be a plus right?
A lot of people saying Alcantara is just an organization filler- but I compare him to Kevin McGowan of the Mets- as a starter- mediocre results– look up what he did after being converted to a full time reliever. It was markedly better. I think the same will happen with Alcantara. I have seen him pitch, and while his control faltered as the game dragged on, he has decent stuff and I think it will play well 1 inning at a time. Great move by Avila– much better than the “spend all of our money” plan.
I don’t like this move for LA. As I said in another thread a few days ago (I believe it was Monday)- You shouldn’t trade for a guy whose option is probably getting declined, and if you are going to, you trade a no-name A-baller because you have all of the leverage. Also, the Angels have no shot at competing in 2017- barring something drastic– and while Maybin is better than the Gentry/Nava tandem– he’s the kind of player a playoff team fills a hole with cheaply (think Raul Ibanez/Phillies 2010) and he contributes, but he’s a peripheral player. If the Angels want to win, they need to be shooting for bigger names–especially if they are giving up prospects that they don’t have to give.
The silver lining for LA is that when they are way behind Texas, Houston and Seattle come July, Maybin might be able to bring them their first prospect back since Mike Trout emerged from the dark pit that is the Angels’ Minor League Organization. (I’m of course kidding, as the Angels have developed good players in the past, however it is very desolate at this point in time)
This a minor league relief pitcher we’re talking here. You can get effective major league relievers off the waiver wire all season long. It’s not like they’re giving up a future Cory Kluber!
I’m not saying the Angels gave up a future all-star- but a young reliever with the ceiling of a solid back-end reliever is a lot more valuable to an organization with no prospects than he would be to an organization like Philly or Atlanta, therefore it makes it a bigger loss for them. While good relievers are available frequently, most of them have ceilings of middle relievers or low leverage set-ups.
And I’m praising it for Detroit because they saved 1,000,000 and got a prospect for a guy they were just going to release.
Tigers fans this is a damn fine pickup. Don’t let some of the people here fool you about his command. A lot of his command issues stemmed from him trying to stretch his pitches out over 5+ innings. This kid had future closer written all over him the day they signed but the Angels farm has been so bereft of talent for so long now that they tried to make him a starter. Put him in the pin and let him fire away. Guys that throw 100 are rare and you guys just got one for peanuts. This trade has Soth/Morono fingerprints all over it.
Guys who throw 100 aren’t nearly as rare as they were even five years ago.
And Alcantara has been the same old garbage with lousy mechanics (and decreased velocity) working as a reliever in Scotsdale (7BB in 6IP) during the AFL as he was working as a reliever in Arkansas (12 BB in 13.1 IP).
I know that, as an Angels fan, it might be hard to remember what a prospect looks like. But it’s not this guy.
So much for the Angel fans hoping their team gets one of the better LFers in free agency. Instead they are stuck with another mediocre player.
what are you smoking I love this move. Now obviously I don’t agree with trading Alcantara. I feel like they would have gotten a way with some nameless class A player. But nonetheless, I love the speed, youth, and bat of this move. If you watched the Angels this past season they relied on power far too much. Now with Maybin, Scioscia could call hit and runs, bunts, and allow him to steal some bags. Now we just need to find a young and consistent 2nd baseman or 3rd baseman. Not a superstar but at least somebody who can be consistently healthy with high contact. That with a couple more arms in the rotation and a healthy Bullpen equals at least a chance to contend for the Angels
And Alcantara is still way overrated
Is Scioscia gonna teach him how to bunt, and do a hit and run. In the year he was in Detroit, Maybin didn’t show ability at either. He’s not exactly a contact hitter. If you look at his home and away splits, you might get a better idea what to expect. He just had his career year. Its most likely he will regress some. Hopefully, not all the way back to his career norms.
He can run. That’s what they need. Angels led the Majors in sac bunts this season so it’s not like they’re lacking small ball. Although studies are showing bunting is hurting more than helping.
The Angels have a terrible farm system so they have no room to give up either good prospects in a trade or a first round draft pick. They were not going to get Cespedes or Desmond or Saunders or anyone else that will be offered a QO. Maybin is 29 and contributed a 2.0 WAR in 2015 which makes him a good option for the Angels. If there is a better guy than a 2.0 WAR among these guys, please tell me which one they should have signed. Rajai Davis is the only one in that group that had as good of a year.
Gregor Blanco (33)
Nick Buss (30)
Chris Coghlan (32)
Rajai Davis (36)
Alejandro De Aza (33)
Matt Holliday (37)
Craig Gentry (33)
Cole Gillespie (33)
David Lough (31)
Brandon Moss (33)
Angel Pagan (35)
Jimmy Paredes (28)
Alex Presley (31)
Ryan Raburn (36)
Colby Rasmus (30)
Logan Schafer (30)
Eric Thames (30)
And yet their offense isn’t their problem and bounced back with a 25 WAR. This move just adds more speed and durability to a lineup that doesn’t need much in the way of upgrades. Pitching will be their primary focus this winter.
You need to look at Maybin’s career. You added speed, but definitely not durability. He’s your prototypical china doll. You can start your pool of how many days he will spend on the DL whenever you like.
45 days.
Alcantara is pretty much nothing.
I hear the pitcher they gave up throws a 100 mph!
Throwing 100 mph is awesome, that dose not mean he is a future hall of famer. I hate when people get caught up on velo. Kyle Hendricks barely throws 90 and won the ERA title this year
Right, ask Daniel Bard
Daniel Bard was one of baseball’s best relievers for a few years and then Boston screwed him up by starting him
I’m not sure this puts the Angels completely out of the running for another outfielder.
You have to remember that they had a huge, gaping hole in LF that has to be filled one way or another. There’s no guarantee that any offers you make to other FA OFs get accepted. If you wait to act on Plan B until February, you’re left with Matt Joyce type barrel-scraping all over again.
Just because the Angels went out and nailed down this deal before free agency started doesn’t mean that Maybin isn’t actually their Plan B for LF.
They have Jefry Marte who was once a top Mets prospect and looked like he was finally figuring it out this season. He’s also a Juan Rivera clone with infield ability sprinkled on top. So I would imagine he’d probably fill in the extra time Maybin misses in LF in addition to filling in at other areas.
I wonder if the Tigers end up trading a few more players like Upton and Kinsler. If I was the Dodgers I’d jump all over adding Kinsler if he is available.
This was upgrade for the Angels but they need pitching badly even if Richard and Heaney come back healthy they need more starting pitching and relievers and they could really use a catcher.
Tigers will make more trades. They are rebooting, … again.
Upton can be had, though he has a partial no trade clause. Kinsler will be tough to trade as Detroit has no replacement. (not that they have an obvious replacement for Maybin) Kinsler is also very affordable, so he would be much more pricey (unless you have someone that can throw 100mph).
I think that maybin was a good pick up for the angles.
Angels made a good low cost move, which is what you want to do at this time of year. Maybin is an upgrade.
Angels did not give up much, but took on $9MM in salary for a player who had his career best slash line in 2016 by a huge margin. $9MM doesn’t buy as much as it once did. Seems like Angels panicked and with a little patience could have done better for that amount of money.
Wait, so you’re saying $9 million doesn’t buy as much as it once did (which I agree with) but then that the Angels could’ve gotten someone else better, whether it be OF or another spot? Outside of allocating some of those funds to pitching, they’re not going to get any good hitters and no quality pitcher is signing for only $9 million a year. Even if they spent that money elsewhere, they’d still have a huge hole in LF and would probably have to platoon again.
I think there are a couple of FA LF’ers better than Cameron for $9MM on a 1 year deal. Steve Pearce, Rajai Davis, or Franklin Gutierrez. Trade possibilities: Brandon Guyer, Robbie Grossman, ex Angels Randal Grichuk, Scott Van Slyke (who may be non tendered), and others. I look at Maybin’s overall stats and he is underwhelming except for last half of 2016.
I think this trade is good for both teams. The Angels need MLB quality players (period). The Tigers need to cut payroll. Cameon Maybin is not a superstar but, I doubt the Tigers would’ve simply non tendered him. He will be a solid defender in LF and can fill in in CF. He’s a top of the order type hitter and when he does get on base, he runs the bases well. I feel that Mike Trout will be better served as the number 2 hitter vs. the lead-off hitter. This benefits the Tigers so they can make room for “new blood”. Camerin Maybin is NOT a good defensive CF. That is what the Tigers need even more than a great hitting CF.
I don’t know much about Victor Alcantara. However, it sounds as if he may be better in a different farm system. Just not the Tigers farm system. They have a reputation for stockpiling players, not developing players.
I’ve predicted 30 trades this offseason 1 down 29 to go. And this isn’t a bad trade to start it but I don’t see maybin staying a angel all season
He will be DFA’d in June.
I am a mets fan and I hope they retain Neil walker but if not he would be a solid addition for the halos
I don’t think he’s going to do to good with us. He did horrible in San Diego because its a pitcher friendly park. Angel Stadium is no different. We shall see though.
Maybin is possibly even the best thing we could have gotten for Alcantara so ill take this deal.