Detroit Tigers: Cameron Maybin comes full circle with organization, again
By Tyler Kotila
Oddly enough, when the Detroit Tigers signed Cameron Maybin this offseason, it marked the second time he would return to the organization since being drafted.
Way back in 2005 MLB First-Year Amateur Player Draft, the Detroit Tigers would use the tenth overall pick in the first round to select outfielder Cameron Maybin. Fifteen years later, he is a part of the Tigers organization once again, coming full circle in the big leagues, once again.
In 2007, Maybin would make his debut with the Tigers, playing in 24 games where he would hit .143/.208/.265 in his first crack at the big leagues. Following the 2007 season, one of the biggest trades, if not the biggest trade, would go down between the Tigers and (then) Florida Marlins.
The trade would send Maybin and plenty of others like pitchers Burke Badenhop and Andrew Miller to the Marlins in exchange for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. A deal that would change the course of the Tigers franchise for years to come.
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Oddly enough, Maybin’s part in this trade would ultimately land him back in a Tigers uniform in the 2016 season, where he looked pretty good after coming into his own in the big leagues.
Never being a stud outfielder, but finding his way into games or capturing an everyday job on a bad team.
In 2016 when things came full circle, Maybin would hit .315/.383/.418 with 43 RBI over 94 games on the season before departing the organization once more. But in 2020, he found his way back to the organization that once drafted him and eventually traded him for Cabrera.
Strangely enough, the two who were trade pieces in that crazy Marlins/Tigers trade are now teammates… again! Though baseball is on the shelf still with the continued worry from the COVID-19 pandemic, the hope remains to get the players on the field once again.
If and when the Tigers are back on the field, it will be the second time Maybin will suit up for the Tigers. The first time was as a former Tigers top prospect at the age of twenty, but in 2020 he will return to the Tigers at the age of thirty-three.
Over the years, Maybin has become a well-traveled veteran, playing for eight different teams over the thirteen years he has spent in the big leagues. On top of coming full circle and returning to the Tigers, Maybin would return to the Marlins in 2018 for a brief time as well.
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In December of 2007, when the fate of the Detroit Tigers was changed for the better acquiring Miguel Cabrera, it was Cameron Maybin who began a journey that would bring him back twice.