SF Giants: Longtime outfielder announces retirement

Longtime outfielder Cameron Maybin announced his retirement on Monday after 15 seasons in the majors. You will not find the SF Giants as one of the 10 teams he played for throughout his career, but the right-handed bat did appear briefly with the organization in 2019.

SF Giants: Longtime outfielder announces retirement

The Giants signed the 34-year-old outfielder just as spring training was getting underway and at a time when the organization was very much in a transition phase. San Francisco was coming off of two straight losing seasons and they began camp in 2019 with more questions than answers in the outfield.

At the very least, the signing of Maybin was to give the Giants a little stability in the outfield. However, it was not meant to be as the right-handed hitter struggled mightily in his time with the Orange and Black.

In fairness, Maybin had been tinkering with his swing mechanics and the extra work he put in did not translate to the box score right away. He recorded just seven hits in 43 at-bats with 13 strikeouts for a grizzly .483 OPS before being released by the Giants at the end of camp.

He was not a free agent for long, signing a minor league pact with the Cleveland Guardians just before the start of the year. However, he would never play for the Guardians as his contract was sold to the New York Yankees.

With the Yankees, Maybin had a resurgent campaign in 2019, slashing .285/.364/.494 (127 OPS+) with 11 home runs, 32 RBI, and 48 runs scored in 269 plate appearances. It was bittersweet to see Maybin have that type of success after beginning the year with the Giants because San Francisco could have certainly used that type of production in the outfield.

The veteran outfielder came up as a highly-regarded prospect and he was a steady contributor for the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres early in his career before becoming a journeyman outfielder in the latter half. He finishes his career with a respectable .254/.323/.374 line (92 OPS+) 72 home runs, 354 RBI, and 556 runs scored in 15 seasons.

Maybin will not be leaving baseball. He will continue working with the Players Alliance, which focuses on promoting equal access and opportunity to the next generation. He did not specify it, but it would not be surprising to see him become a coach in the future. Around the Foghorn want to congratulate him on a long career and wish him luck in his future endeavors.