Ramblings: Maybin, Kawakami, Uggla

• The San Diego Padres have approached the Florida Marlins about a possible deal for centerfielder Cameron Maybin.  Maybin is a terrific defensive center-fielder (+5.1 UZR in his career) and still is young with tremendous upside.  Florida received Maybin and Andrew Miller (who was traded yesterday) in the blockbuster trade for Miguel Cabrera a couple years ago.
• The Atlanta Braves have sent right-hander Kenshin Kawakami down to Double-A.  Kawakami put up a 5.15 ERA last year, and has now been demoted and removed from the 40-man roster.  Atlanta still owes him over $6.5M for next year.
• The Florida Marlins have broken off talks with second-baseman Dan Uggla, and a trade might be imminent.  Uggla would be a premiere bat on the market, and teams such as the Tigers have already said that they are interested in the powerful player.

Ramblings: Miller, Renteria, Encarnacion

Andrew Miller is the newest
Red Sox

• The Boston Red Sox have acquired left-hander Andrew Miller from the Florida Marlins.  Florida gets lefty reliever Dustin Richardson.  The 6'7" Miller was a first round pick in the 2006 draft, but has not reached the ceiling that scouts once believed he had.  He's thrown 294.1 major-league innings, with a horrific 5.84 ERA and 1.73 WHIP.  Boston will likely turn him into a reliever, which MLB Network's Peter Gammons believes might work.  Richardson has only thrown 16.1 innings in parts of the last two seasons, and has got very lucky posting a 3.31 ERA despite a WHIP over 2.  The Kansas native had a decent minor-league career though, so the Marlins pretty much got a piece with a lower ceiling but higher current state, with the Red Sox doing the oppostie and taking a gamble on Miller.
• World Series MVP Edgar Renteria has now made it clear that he wants to retire with either the Florida Marlins or St. Louis Cardinals, which is very odd considering he just won a world title with the Giants.  This might hurt his free-agency as well, since those teams don't seem to have room for him and now the Giants will likely turn their back on the 34-year old since he doesn't want to be back with San Fran.
• The busy Oakland A's made another move today, claiming third-baseman Edwin Encarnacion off waivers from the Blue Jays.  Edwin hit .244 last year, and cranked out 21 home-runs. A's GM Billy Beane is deep into his search for some bats, already acquiring OF David DeJesus earlier.

Tigers Acquire Cabrera/Willis

The Detroit Tigers shocked the world today, moving prospects Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Mike Rabelo, Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz, and Dallas Trahern to the Florida Marlins in return for 24-year old third-baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-handed ace Dontrelle Willis. Detroit moved their number 1,3,7, and 11 prospects to Florida, but acquired two players who have superstar written all over them.

Cabrera hit .320 last year with 34 HR and 119 RBI, and is yet to eclipse 25-years old. He is going to be serious insurance for Magglio Ordonez, and will witness a huge rise in stats with Gary Sheffield batting directly after him. As for Willis, 2007 was a horrible year for the left-hander, going 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA. He is a career 3.78 pitcher, and is only 25 years of age.

Andrew Miller, the 22-year old phenom, was almost as good as Willis was last year. The good news? The right-hander had a 0.53 ERA in 30.2 innings-pitched. He will likely slot right into Florida's rotation next season. Detroit's number one prospect, Cameron Maybin, did terrible as a 20-year old major-leaguer, but has never hit below .304 in the minor leagues, and has a tremendous eye and decent speed.