Tigers, Marlins pull off blockbuster

JEFF BLAIR

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

December 5, 2007 at 12:01 AM EST

NASHVILLE — Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers? Are you kidding me?

On a day when Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi contemplated the task in front of his team by saying "you're going to have to pitch to win our division," as he effectively put Alex Rios on the trade block and then shrugged and sat back and waited to see whether Johan Santana went to the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, the Tigers reminded everybody in baseball that there's life outside the American League East.

And Anaheim, for that matter.

Pulling off a trade in the best tradition of winter meetings past, the Tigers agreed to send their top two prospects, 20-year-old outfielder Cameron Maybin and 22-year-old left-hander Andrew Miller, along with four other minor-leaguers, to the Florida Marlins for the best available young hitter on the market and a left-hander once touted as the future African-American face of the game who desperately needed a change in scenery.

Cabrera, 24, hit .320 and had 34 home runs and 119 runs batted in last season against a backdrop of concerns about his weight. Willis was 10-15, with an earned-run average of 5.17, and both players can expect to prosper under the sage guidance of manager Jim Leyland, who will have a lineup that is the deepest in the major leagues.

Maybin played at four levels this past season, hitting .143 in 49 big-league games after hitting .304 in the Florida State League. Miller, a 6-foot-6 monster, was 5-5 (5.63 ERA) in 13 major-league starts.

The deal is contingent on everybody passing physical examinations. But based on the Marlins' track record, the deal probably means they'll be in the World Series in the next two years because few scouting departments can match their acumen.

Cabrera was rumoured to be going to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, he's gone to a team one season removed from a trip to the World Series and in the process just added $20-million (U.S.) to its payroll.

The deal might help the Blue Jays in their search to acquire pitching, because other than free agent Andruw Jones, there simply isn't a lot available in the way of an impact bat. So there was a reason that Ricciardi spent time Tuesday openly musing about how a post-Rios outfield might look in Toronto.

The Yankees sent out signals in the afternoon that as far as they were concerned they were out of the market for Santana, but not many people bought it. It seems clear the Minnesota Twins will get the best offer they can from the Red Sox and possibly the Angels and then ask the Yankees to match it.

Ricciardi knows that in Roy Halladay and (when healthy) A.J. Burnett, he has two front-line starters who can match up with either the Red Sox or, certainly, the Yankees sans Santana. He also knows that one of Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch will likely experience a drop from 2007.

Ricciardi wants Casey Janssen in his rotation, but he has talked to the Giants about their two gilt-edged young starters, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, because if he can get one of them he will have imposing depth — depth that might in fact open the door to another transaction.

The Giants — properly — think Cain will be an ace because of his physical build and is more likely to be a consistent deliverer of 200 innings a season. Lincecum's unusual mechanics have perplexed many of their baseball people, who view him as a surgery waiting to happen.

But here's the catch: The Blue Jays have not heard back from Giants GM Brian Sabean after an initial meeting on Monday — this despite the fact Sabean told people Tuesday the Jays had made the best offer for Lincecum.

The Blue Jays would do Cain for Rios even-up, no questions asked. The Giants would rather move Lincecum, and the Jays would do that if the Giants would consider taking on Troy Glaus's salary in return. The Giants are balking. And so it goes.

The Blue Jays aren't in a rush to move Rios. Far from it. But Ricciardi thinks that if his team is healthy and especially if slugger Vernon Wells regains his form of two years ago, it might be able to handle the loss of production.

Remember: Adam Lind is no great bargain defensively, but he had 11 homers in 290 at-bats in 2007. He could play left field, and Blue Jays sources say Ricciardi's musing about a platoon of Reed Johnson and Matt Stairs in right ought to be viewed as just that: a what-if that could be changed by another trade down the road.

Tuesday's blockbuster suggests this market has a few more deals left.

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