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Likeable MLB journeyman and forgotten LA Angel retires after 15 years

Evan Desai
Evan Desai

Halo Hangout

Oakland Athletics v Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Victor Decolongon/GettyImages

15-year MLB journeyman and seemingly forgotten member of the LA Angels, Cameron Maybin, has officially retired Monday:

Maybin played for ten teams in his long Major League tenure. All in all, he was a .254 hitter with speed that helped him out in the outfield and led to him averaging 26 stolen bases every 162 games. He made just 30 errors in 1,096 games.

He played 93 games with the Halos in 2017, and hit .235/.333/.351 (.685 OPS) and posted an 87 OPS+. While those aren't the best numbers, he was wicked fast and stole 29 bases in just that time for Anaheim. It's part of why he scored 57 runs in those 93 games.

Cameron Maybin provided elite baserunning to many teams, including the LA Angels.

Interestingly, if you remember, Cameron Maybin finished that 2017 season not with the LA Angels, but with the Houston Astros. He won a World Series in that season, and even scored a couple runs in the six games he played. In his postseason resume (Astros and then Yankees in 2019), Maybin produced a solid .267/.353/.467 (0.820 OPS) line in 13 games.

As Maybin wrote, he is excited to continue working in the game. He is currently working with the Players Alliance to contribute to their effort on getting more Black players involved in this great sport. I could also absolutely see Maybin coaching someday, as there of course has to be a lot of knowledge gained from Maybin in his long big-league career.

No matter how he chooses to stay in baseball, we know he's going to kill it. Nobody has ever had anything negative to say about Maybin.

The former 10th overall pick stayed in the sport for 15 years, which is quite the accomplishment. For the Angels to be part of it was an honor.

Evan Desai

Evan Desai

Evan Desai has covered MLB with FanSided for 3 years, first as a contributor for FanSided's New York sports publication--Empire Writes Back--and now as the expert at Halo Hangout, the Angels publication for the network. He also runs Reign Of Troy, the USC FanSided publication, and has covered college sports since 2019--most notably USC and UCLA for the Pac-12 Network, University of Arizona and Grand Canyon University for Arizona PBS, and Arizona State University for Sports Illustrated's ASU publication. He has also run the Clippers FanSided publication in the past, Clipperholics, and has made two stops at NBC Sports.