Analyzing Cameron Maybin Trade: Is it good for LA Angels?

LA Angels general manager wasted no time in starting to fill the holes of the 2016 team in hopes of building a more competitive 2017 team. Eppler traded pitching prospect Victor Alcantara to Detroit for outfielder Cameron Maybin.

At first glance many people might say “There go the LA Angels again, trading their young talent for a veteran who may not hit his weight”.  Here you have a live young arm in Alcantara who has worked his way up to Triple-A and could be poised to make the 2017 LA Angels roster if he has a good Spring.

The biggest knock on Alcantara is that he lacks control.  He has great stuff, but his wildness gets him into trouble.  In five minor league season Alcantara has walked 250 batters in 503.1 innings.  Basically walking a batter every two innings he pitches.  This is not an ideal ratio to have, but it is not terrible either.  To me what’s more alarming with Alcantara is the 480 hits he has given up in those same 503.1 innings.

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Alcantara’s WHIP is 1.45 which is not good.  Opponents are hitting .253 against him as well.  Both of these numbers are not great.  What is even worse is his career ERA of 4.60 and 24-34 record.  Now he could turn it around very easily and harness his tremendous stuff like many others have before him, but that is a risky bet.

Personally I saw Alcantara pitch twice when was in Single-A pitching for the Inland Empire squad and he honestly didn’t impress me very much.  Alcantara’s demeanor on the mound did not seem like a confident pitcher, and although he threw hard he was getting hit around the yard. So I am not really too sad to see Alcantara go. Hopefully it won’t come back to haunt the Angels.

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So what about Cameron Maybin.  Maybin is a center fielder by trade, but is willing to move to left field.  He is super athletic and has good speed and a pretty good arm.  He has a .988 fielding percentage with 22 outfield assists in his career.

Maybin has a career .259 batting average with 46 homers and 252 RBI’s> Maybin has 131 stolen bases and has only been caught 36 times. He has a career OBP of .322.  Maybin’s biggest issue is that he has 643 strikeouts in 2,727 at bats which means he strikes out about a quarter of the time.  This is a little high for someone with only 46 homers.

The other issue with Maybin is that he is injury-proned (just what the Angels need). He only played in 94 games last season due to a broken wrist and other injuries.  In total Maybin has only playrd over 130 games three times in his eight-year career.  Last season in 94 games Maybin hit .315 with four homers and 43 RBI’s. Maybin also stole 15 bases and had a career-high OBP of .383.  If he can produce anywhere close to these numbers and stay healthy, the trade was a steal.

Next: Is Cameron Maybin the answer in left?

However, we remember guys like Matt Joyce and Daniel Nava and the hopes the Angels had for them.  On the flip side Yunel Escobar had another stellar season after his break out year in 2015.  However, I definitely think that Maybin is an upgrade over the plethora of marginal players the Angels trotted out there last season.  I guess we will all just have to wait and see.