The Cleveland Indians made another move to help their outfield, signing free agent outfielder Cameron Maybin to a Minor League deal.
Cameron Maybin joining the Indians seemed inevitable upon his release from the San Francisco Giants. Cleveland continues to address their outfield in an effort to make the group not as much of a liability. Add in the fact that Maybin once played for the Detroit Tigers and it was all but a guarantee. Maybin is just the latest former Tiger outfielder to sign with Cleveland. The others being Rajai Davis and Austin Jackson. Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com Tweeted the news Friday morning.
This is the second signing of this type that the Indians have made this offseason. Cameron Maybin will be joining Carlos Gonzalez in Columbus as both hope to make the big league club. Gonzalez has an out in his deal if he is not in Cleveland by April 20. The time between now and the could be used as a competition of sorts to get the best out of both players. Although Gonzalez does have a higher upside than Maybin.
Cameron Maybin has a career slash line of .254/.322/.368 with an OPS of .690. Over the course of his career Maybin generally stays in the range of those numbers. Every once in a while Maybin over or underperforms his average performance, but generally is in same area in regards to numbers.
Every time the Indians have made a signing like this it has not come as a surprise. This a low-risk move for a risk averse team. Signing Cameron Maybin is not a financial risk and his play is average enough to warrant a one-year deal.
It must be said that like the other outfielders that Cleveland has signed this offseason, if things do not work out it is on to the next one.
