Cameron Maybin is one of the most oft-traded player of our current, post-Edwin-Jackson era of baseball. Maybin is one of those players where you could feasibly make a lineup of players he was traded for, and they would include such luminaries as Miguel Cabrera, Craig Kimbrel, B.J Upton, Dontrelle Willis and Edward Mujica. Maybin has also been included in deals with Andrew Miller, Carlos Quentin and Matt Wisler.
The cool part for me is that Maybin was traded for Miguel Cabrera and has now returned to the Tigers twice to play alongside him. I do find it funny that now all three of Maybin's seasons in Detroit have been shortened in some way- his 2007 season due to a rookie call-up, his 2016 season due to an injury lopping off his first few months, and this season due to, well, the virus shortening the season. And yet you can still say that Cameron Maybin seems to enjoy playing for the Tigers. Heck, Maybin's best numbers, especially in terms of average, came during his 2016 run in Detroit.
So having him here as a veteran, along with Cabrera, as the team rebuilds is pretty smart. You're gonna see Maybin get less starting time and Victor Reyes and Travis Demeritte get more as we go. Maybin, like Curtis Granderson in Miami last year, is a great guy to inspire the youth and get them working. I don't know if it'll work for Christin Stewart, who's still listless, but JaCoby Jones is off to a really nice start, as is Castro.
Granted, the only starter that's really stood out so far is Spencer Trumbull, but the fact that the younger arms are showing up helps- Rony Garcia did what he could today, but the Royals got the better of him. The bullpen also seems a bit more refined than usual for the Tigers, so...things have improved from the Tigers' Tork-qualifying last place finish.
I don't think we'll be seeing Riley Greene or Casey Mize this season, but I also don't think the Tigers will be terrible this year either.
Coming Tomorrow- In Chris Archer's absence, a fireballer ascends in Pittsburgh.
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