Nationals Trade Maxwell To Yankees
Nats pick up AA reliever for Justin Maxwell
As the pic suggests, the other shoe has dropped on the Maxwell DFA and it’s a typographer’s nightmare Adam Olbrychowski, a 24-year-old reliever that went 3-2 with a save and 3.90 ERA in 32 games pitching at Hi-A Tampa and AA Trenton.
Olbrychowski was drafted in 5th round of the 2007 draft out of Pepperdine University and worked as a starter for his first two pro seasons but had below-average results and poor control. In 2009, he converted to relief but continued to give up free passes (40 in 58IP as a reliever). He repeated at Tampa in 2010, cutting down on the walks (27 in 59IP) and earning a late bump up to Trenton.
Like many Rizzo acquisitions, Olbrychowski has good size (6’3″, 200) and throws hard with late sink, thus keeping the ball in the yard (1HR in 67IP last year). Throughout his career, however, the knock has been the lack of polish on his secondary pitches. Like Rule 5 pickup Michael Allen, Olbrychowski appears to be a project but with more upside. He was not listed in any of the major 2011 prospect books.
UPDATE:
Shairon Martis has cleared waivers and was outrighted to Syracuse. He will be a non-roster invitee to Spring Training, according to the Nationals PR.
Based on the reports I’ve read the Yankees were logjammed with relievers in the minors. And they have given up on this guy as a starter too soon … well they are after all the Yankees … they hardly ever develop starters from within their system?
I have a sneaking hunch that the Nats will try this guy out in the rotation again and see where it goes. He has 3-4 possibly 5 pitches and likely throws with a lot more heat than the low 90’s since he was able to maintain low nineties into late innings. Looks like a potential starter …
Good luck to JMax, a great guy. He has a good shot at making the Yanks as a 4th OF, hope he’s healthy and can give it his all.
My JMax t-shirt jersey will join the hallowed names that preceded it = Terrmel Sledge’s 18, Jose Vidro’s 3, Nick Johnson’s 24. Now JMax’ 30 shall join them and commisserate on their ex-Nat-ness.
Good luck to a good guy. Too bad he turned out to be AAAA. Would have been a great story of local boy made good.
Getting what looks (at first blush) like a AA orginizational arm from the Yankees was about as good as I could have expected. Maybe Olbrychowski proves to be more than that, & the Nationals benefit from the trade, but Maxwell needed to move on, imo.
All in all, a fair trade.
Hey Shaun Suisham got cut and now he’s caught on with the Steelers and is in the Superbowl. It could happen to you, J-Max. The Quest for Contact continues in NYC. Wish we’d given him an extended run platooning with Nyjer.
Would have liked to get more for Maxwell, of course, especially since the Yanks appear to see him as a legit potential 4th outfielder. But, given the DFA status, and a reasonable chance of losing him anyway, we probably couldn’t have expected much more. Given our newfound strength/depth at OF, this was a position we could afford to lose a player at. Here’s hoping that alphabet-man – a.k.a. Olbrychowski – proves to be a good gamble.
In Riz we trust…
-BDBD 🙂
I’ve always liked Maxwell and feel he was not handled correctly last year. I still think he might become a respectable offensive player in the majors. I realize I’m a minority of one, or thereabouts.
Two! I’m with ya Buddy!
May he always bat with the bases juiced!
Its not last year … you would have to go back to when Bowden inexplicably jumped the guy from his first blush look at Potomac and A+ ball all the way to the majors. Its likely the main reason why Maxwell cannot consistently hit good major league fastballs or major league pitching in general. All the other tools were and are there.
Then, when he was sent back down to the minors after the promotion (AAA not AA or AA+) he took a bad attitude and slumped badly.
Fortunately, that won’t happen with Rizzo or with top prospect Bryce Harper.
Knew this was coming….I do think they got a fair to middlin’ trade for him. If he had shown any ability to hit MLB caliber pitching, he’d be around for another year. I think the ability is there, maybe someone in the Yankee system can get his swing to adapt to the slow stuff.
I wish him SOOO much success with the Yankees system!