I would think that if a team was going to trade the best offensive player in franchise history, they would be at least somewhat patient with the players they received in return. Apparently, the Florida Marlins don’t believe in patience.

On Friday, the Marlins traded LHP Andrew Miller to the Boston Red Sox and on Saturday, they traded CF Cameron Maybin to the San Diego Padres. The two key pieces in the Miguel Cabrera trade were traded in a span of 24 hours and now the Marlins don’t have anything to show for trading one of the top-two or three offensive players in baseball.

 

That’s a kick to the solar plexus.

The Marlins traded Maybin to the Padres for relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica. I think this is one heck of a trade for the Padres and am not surprised that the Marlins let Maybin go.

Here is what I wrote about Maybin when he was recalled from Triple-A back in August.

“The next 30 games or so will be very big for Maybin’s career. If he fails again, he might not get another chance in a Marlins uniform.”

Maybin played in 31 games and had 120 PA’s from August 24–September 28 and in those 120 PA’s, Maybin hit .250/.325/.398 with three HR’s, three doubles and two triples. Maybin still had a hard time making adjustments at the plate as he struck out 35 times during that span.

In 144 career games in a Marlins uniform, Maybin hit .257/.323/.391 with 12 HR’s, 14 SB’s and five triples. Maybin is 23 and barely played one full season for the Marlins, so I guess they felt he was expendable.

I am not surprised they traded him, but I wonder why they would just wave goodbye to him so quickly.

Maybin should get his chance in San Diego. He is an instant upgrade over Tony Gwynn Jr. in centerfield and should bat down in the order, which will alleviate some of the pressure on him.

In return for Maybin, the Marlins get two serviceable relievers in Webb and Mujica.

Webb is the bigger piece of this trade for the Marlins. Webb is a 24-year-old righty, who had a 2.90 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 6.7 K’s/9 in 59 innings.

While his 6.7 K’s/9 isn’t that impressive, his 63 percent groundball percentage is, ranked fourth amongst all National League relievers in 2010.

I would believe the plan for Webb is to be the prime bridge to closer Leo Nunez.

Mujica is another young pitcher, who didn’t find himself until he got to San Diego. Mujica had a 3.62 ERA, an impressive 0.93 WHIP and 12 K’s/9 in 69.2 innings in 2010.

Mujica throws around 92 mph and has a plus split-fingered fastball. One thing I would be concerned with in regards to Mujica is that he had an almost one-to-one groundball to flyball ratio in 2010. That might work in San Diego, but I am not sure how well that is going to turn out in Florida.

I can see why the Marlins made this trade from a needs perspective. Their bullpen ranked 17th in baseball in ERA and 21st in WHIP. They desperately needed to get some bullpen help this winter.

I just wouldn’t have traded Maybin to do it.

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