Detroit – Cameron Maybin’s third stint with the Tigers ends just like his first two – by being traded away.
The Tigers traded Maybin, 33, to the Cubs, just ahead of the 4 p.m. Monday trade deadline, for minor-league utility infielder Zack Short, 25.
Short, a 17th round pick in 2016, has hit .241 with .377 on-base percentage in four minor-league seasons. He got to Triple-A last season. He’s described as an undersized but aggressive, hard-nosed player with some pop in his bat (he hit 17 home runs at Double-A in 2018).
He’s played second, shortstop and third base at every level.
General manager Al Avila made it clear before the deadline that he didn’t expect to be overly-aggressive on the trade market.
“In our situation, we’re not looking to add a big piece or trade away any of our good prospects,” he said last week. “At the same time, if we had a player we felt a team needed from us and we can better ourselves for next year or for the near future, then we have to be open-minded to that.”
That’s what the Maybin traded represented. Maybin, on a one-year deal, wasn’t likely to be re-signed for 2021.
“If that type of deal is not there, we’ll keep our team,” Avila said. “We like our team. We will keep it together and keep trying to win.”
Ranked 21st in the Cubs system, Short was on the club’s 40-man roster and is expected to join the Tigers’ taxi squad in Toledo.
The Cubs and Tigers are making a habit of these last-minute deals. They swung a trade for Nick Castellanos at the deadline buzzer last year.
Maybin hadn’t really got on track with the Tigers this time around. He battled a quad injury and hit .244 in 14 games. He was, though, an important presence in the clubhouse, instrumental in keeping the club together during the nine-game losing streak.
He joined Miguel Cabrera and Austin Romine in convening a players only meeting in Chicago after the team lost its eighth straight game.
Maybin was previously traded before the 2008 season in the Miguel Cabrera deal. He was traded again in 2016 for Victor Alcantara.
Twitter @cmccosky