The Yankees announced that they have acquired Justin Maxwell from the Nationals for minor league right-hander Adam Olbrychowski. When Washington had to clear roster space last week, they designated Maxwell for assignment.
Other than their four primary outfielders – Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones – the Yankees don't have a ton of outfield depth. Maxwell will provide manager Joe Girardi with an alternative to Colin Curtis, Greg Golson and Jordan Parraz.
Maxwell has a .201/.319/.379 line in 260 big league plate appearances and a .261/.357/.442 line in 1778 minor league plate appearances. The 27-year-old has shown speed on the basepaths and the ability to play all three outfield positions.
Olbrychowski reached Double-A last year in his fourth professional season. The 24-year-old posted a 3.90 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 67 innings at Class A and Double-A last year, working almost exclusively out of the bullpen.
batted .144 with a .305 OBP and a .288 slugging.
lol if that doesn’t make your head hurt I dont know what will.
hmmm…. my head feels fine
Getting hit in the head with a bat?
Yeah but for whatever reason, with the bases loaded in his career, he is 3 for 5 with 3 HRs
That’s 2 more HR’s than Derek Jeter with the bases loaded in 216 less At Bats
hmmm
Is he gonna be Andruw Jones’ personal trainer or something? That’s about the only use I can think of for him…
Can he pitch?
Insert “WS, here they come” joke.
I guess I’m the only person on planet earth who’s thunderstruck by all this buzz about the Yankees being dead in the water. Last I checked, the same rotation they’re slated to start the season with this year (assuming Pettite comes back, which he will) was two wins away from playing in the world series. And that’s with AJ Burnett being hung out to dry by Dave Eiland and Joe Girardi, and Pettite on the DL for parts of three months.
Yeah, the Yankees are dead all right. All the Yankee-haters need to just keep right on saying that. 😉
Do you really think the Yankees don’t have pitching problems? You must be delusional if you don’t see that being a problem for them. You can say what you want about last years rotation, but this years features a lot of question marks.
Pitching problems compared with what team? It’s the post-expansion major leagues. Every team has pitching problems outside of Philadelphia.
The Boston Red Sox are penciling Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and John Lackey in for about 90 starts. This isn’t the situation people make it out to be.
dnt kid urself, philly has pitching problems too… for starters brad lidge is the closer, i think thats enuff sedd, nd the rest of their bullpen aint good either, they mite have 3 great starters (i dont consider cole hamels remotely on the level of the other 3) but they have no bullpen, itll come back to bite them in the playoffs
I feel bad for you.
I feel bad for myself, trying to read that.
no one is going to listen to your reasoning when you stole your screen name from jersey shore.
bing…pow….boom! forgetaboutit.
In the words of Rick James….English is a hell of a language.
What is this, Jersey Shore? English is a pretty easy language to learn. Try it!
I have to disagree with you there, both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee can pitch 8-9 innings every start, especially in the playoffs. Having Hammels (I agree he’s not on the same level as the other 3 guys) and/or Oswalt throw 7 is good enough. The Phillies pen isn’t great by any stretch but I don’t think it’ll have any bearing on how they do in the playoffs barring a major injury. As a Yankee fan I’d love to see the Phillies pen collapse, but I don’t think it’s that big of a problem.
Regardless of our friend who has a limited grasp of the English language I’d like to say a few things about Cole Hamels and the Phillies bullpen. Did everyone forget 2 seasons ago Hamels was a World Series & NLCS MVP and that the Phils had the best bullpen in baseball? Want to go more recently? How about last season where if you take out the first month of the season Hamels had the lowest ERA of any lefty starter in baseball. How about the fact post all-star break Madson and Lidge had the lowest ERA of any set-up/closer combo in baseball. Both Madson and Lidge were nursing injuries early in the season last year. Lets not forget Lidge is only behind Rivera in post-season saves and that Hamels is still very young and he will only get better.
LOL at every1 who cant read shorthand… dispute my argument not my choice of writing unless u dnt know wat ur talkin bout nd u need 2 put ur 2 cents in?? idc wat lidges numbers say, hes a choke artist aka not a good closer, if he faces a-rod, tex, or cano in the world series ill put all my money on a home run… nd 4 hammels he has yet to perform when expected, let him have a good year this year nd then mebe u can say hes a decent #2 starter… besides as great as cliff lee is, when hes bad, hes really baddd, he wasnt good in the world series, when hes bad he completely takes u outta games, his extremes r worse than burnetts, not that impressed wit that pitchin staff as a whole, its a lil overhyped
If cole hamels has a good year you’d say he’s a decent #2 starter? That’s great because he’s their #4 starter. I hate the phillies, but compare their rotation from top to bottom with any other rotation in the majors today. I think they clearly have the best rotation.
As for their bullpen, I agree that lidge could be a question mark. But given their strong starting rotation and offense, they could hide that weakness. As for other top bullpen’s I would name: padres, jays, and yanks(soriano & rivera) off the top of my head. I know their are other good ones out there, just saying
t shirt time!
I’m not comparing it to any teams, but if you’d like me to I will with the AL East. The Yankees have Sabbathia and Hughes, then who’s after that? Burnett has ace stuff he’s just very inconsistent. Nova? You truely can’t expect him to have a great year. Sure, his LIMITED major league time was solid, but over a full season, that’s asking a lot. Colon/Garcia? I see Garcia being effective but only to an extent. Look at the Rays. They built a solid team all around even while losing everyone they did. They rely on SP, and they have plenty of it. Baltimore has a decent rotation, so does Toronto. Boston also has a nice rotation lead by Buchholz and Lester. Lackey/Dice-K/Beckett as your 3-5 starters is fine if they’re healthy. They also have Miller/Wakefield/Doubrount and Hill as back up SP. I think you are overlooking how thin NY’s starting pitching is.
Oh yeah, by the way – These teams ALL have very good offenses which require solid SP to slow them down. Pitching is a must.
Wait….the O’s have a good rotation?
I said… “Baltimore has a decent rotation”
If Baltimore’s rotation were a chick then she would be described by the kind hearted as “having a good personaility”. The Yanks would be the modest looking girlfiend that hung out with Baltimore to make herself look better to others. As an extention, the Yanks would be the girl that has no problem putting out but this winter ended up going home by herself more often than usual. 🙁
Touche.
Yeah, that’s probably the same dude who said the Mariners were going to win the AL West last year.
It’s not just Nova. There’s Hector Noesi, David Phelps. Potential injury-provoked garbage-time starts against powerhouses like Seattle and Kansas City by the likes of Garcia and Colon. I’m not worried about it.
Beckett? The Yankees can blow him up. We pretty much do every time. Same with Lackey and Dice-K. So it becomes yet another typical NYY-BOS game where somebody is scoring 7 and somebody is scoring 6. I’ll take the Bronx bullpen there, brother. Miller? Wakefield? Doubrount? Who the hell are these guys? They are just organizational jetsam at this point, no different or better than anybody else. You’re hyping Paul Coffeys here, bra.
Baltimore does not have a decent rotation. Not decent at containing Alex Rodriguez home runs anyway.
I just don’t know how to get it across to you. I’m not worried AT ALL. You can’t tell me I should be terrified of Jeremy Guthrie and Marc Rzepczynski playing spoiler for this Yankees squad and expect me to take you seriously.
I’m not “hyping” anyone. I simply stated that Boston has a starting 5 that is very strong. The fallback/fill in options are there if needed. NY has those fill in types fighting for a spot. Which is what I was trying to say, “BRA”. And it’s great that you’re not worried but as the Yankees struggle every year with pitching, this year will be very rough for them and they better hope they strike gold again in a mid season trade like they did with Aaron Small years back. It’s that bad. I can’t even begin to comment about the rest of what you said. We’ll have to agree to disagree, here.
New York has plenty of organizational depth. Nova is getting a shot in spring training because he’s earned it through his actual play against major league and minor league competition.
Stop making things up to fit your narrative.
Pull your head out of your @$$.
You are the one seriously suggesting Jeremy Guthrie, Time (not a typo) Wakefield, First-Name Doubrount, and the ghost of Josh Beckett are going to derail the 2011 New York Yankees.
Where’s your head?
When did I suggest they were going to derail NY? You’re putting words in my mouth, now. I simply started by saying the Yankees have pitching problems, you replied to me and this is where we’re at. Looks like your head is still lost.
5 comments up, sir. You stated that the Yankees will struggle with starting pitching like they do every year (including 2009, right? what about 1996-2003? 1948-1953? You see how hyperbolic you get when all you’re interested in is hearing yourself make points?) and that we’ll need another “Aaron Small/nugget of gold” because “ALL those teams” (you’re referring to Toronto/Tampa/Baltimore here) have “really good offenses and SP is a MUST”.
It’s never anything like.. Mark Teixeira had the worst year of his career and still hit more home runs than anybody in Boston in 2010. It’s never “Man, the NYY really do have the best OF in baseball”. It’s never “I wonder if Kevin Youkilis will suffer the same fate of a lot of other unathletic late-bloomers with old player skills”.
Baltimore, Toronto, and Tampa Bay will not finish ahead of New York next season. Maybe a team from the Central will nip them for the Wild Card. But the scenarios you’re proposing aren’t going to happen. Mostly because New York is good enough to avoid them, and the other teams aren’t good enough to live up to them.
I compared them to other teams like you asked. I said the Red Sox have less question marks and a 3-5 with Dice-K/Beckett/Lackey is good when healthy. They’re in much better position than the Yanks having Colon/Garcia/etc. fighting for a spot. Try learning how to read before you reply.
All your comments are there for everyone else to read. I went back and read them before I paraphrased your quotes.
You keep attacking my “replies”. Attack the argument I made. The Yankees constantly blow Lackey, Dice-K, and Beckett up. Healthy or not. THEY BLOW THEM UP. We blow Buchholz up, too.
Wake up dude. Dice K, Lackey, and Beckett SUCK. ERAs in the mid-4s dude. Just like EVERYBODY else’s 3-5.
2011 is not going to be any harder than any other season for the NYY. Win 60 games, lose 60 games, try to make the other 40 count. We’ll see where we’re at at the deadline and make a move if we need to.
Why should be Boston and spend hundreds of millions of dollars locking up a rotation full of #4 starters when we can just grab them out of farm system for the league minimum?
You’re talking about 2 guys coming off injuries and one guy tranisitioning full time into the AL East. Good try.
Again.. you’re not getting it. It’s sad.
Win 60, lose 60, try to make the other 40 count. If they end result is an ERA scraping 5, what difference does it make if it’s John Lackey or Hector Noesi?David Phelps/the ghost of Bartolo Colon throwing it up?
Outside of the Burnett-sized contract (with the benefit of hindsight, too. really, theo?), I can’t see one.
no but you should be terrified of Mitre/Colon/Garcia pitching for your team
Rzepczynski isn’t even pencilled into the starting five, and I would still take Zep over aging former stars like Colon, Garcia
Nothing trumps any Red Sox offseason move more than signing Justin Maxwell
Sox just signed Paul Hoover.
Another huge splash. They certainly are countering the signing and trade of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez
Yep, Sox won the Series again in February. I think they did last year to with what “experts” stated was the greatest rotation since Baltimore’s teams in the 70’s. How did that work out?
No experts ever said that, no one ever said it was the greatest rotation sense Baltimore’s rotation in the 70’s. Get a Life
Ouch!!! Looks like a touched a nerve. I never claimed you said it.
However, the Red Sox landing Lackey was checkmate for many in the Baseball world against the Yankees and everyone else.
Commentators went nuts about how between their defense and pitching they would only need to score 2 runs to win a game. I live MA, the papers and sites were so so sure.
No one said that about the Sox rotation. They are more saying it this year about the Phillies. We shall see how they do.
I agree. Not this year, it was last year at this time. The Philies have a monster staff. The only think that can stop it will be injuries and Lidge imploding.
Experts can’t predict health.
Thank you. That is why you cannot make room on your mantle place for the World Series Trophy in February. The top 2 teams are the Phillies and Red Sox, however, both are filled with questions marks up and down their lineups & starting rotations even though they are favored to represent their respective leagues.
Why? Players recovering from injuries. A team doesn’t know how well their players are healed until they start to actually play.
It’s a nice depth move depending on what was given up. Other than Olson and Curtis (who I’m not sure are still with the team) and the kid Boston DFA’d we really don’t have much should someone on the 25 man go down. His AAA numbers look decent enough toview him as someone w/enough potential to be a 4th or 5th OF if Andru goes down.
can’t imagine that it cost anything more than maybe a little cash, considering the Nats had to clear roster space and he doesn’t have much value to begin with.
Who did Boston DFA that the Yankees got?
I stand corrected. Don’t know anything about the guy they traded, doesn’t look like much of a loss though.
huge overpay
Jordan Parraza was the guy they signed who was DFA’d by Boston. Oddly enough, he was just DFA’d to make room for Maxwell.
Well this sucks, i liked Maxwell and now i have to hate him. Nats shouldnt have given up on him. He did have one of the best catches in Nats history.
He is quite the athlete no doubt about that. His bat leaves a lot to be desired though.
Stupid Red Sox fan comment about a meaningless back up depth acquisition #1.
Stupid Red Sox fan comment about a meaningless back up depth acquisition #2.
Edit
exhibit a: “Nothing trumps any Red Sox offseason move more than signing Justin Maxwell”
exhibit b:”Another huge splash. They certainly are countering the signing and trade of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez”
Love the Red Sox fan comments: “Nice job countering the Crawford and Gonzalez deals!” OK, cool…you guys signed Rich Hill. Am I supposed to make some kind of “Way to miss out on Cliff Lee!” joke? No, I’m not. Because I’m not a reactionary idiot who doesn’t examine the world around him before he blurts out internet comments. The Red Sox gained two great offensive players, and lost two (VMart and Beltre). They already had a great offense; they still do. Meanwhile, the Yanks have been quietly adding pieces all offseason, and don’t have to live up to absurd expectations. Let’s let the season play out.
I was really hoping Atlanta would sign Maxwell… He had all the tools the Braves were needing in a potential 4th OF. Sure, his numbers with Washington weren’t the best, but a change of scenery could have helped him. It’s a nice signing by the Yankees, I just wish the Braves would actually add pieces that help the team (backup INF/SS and 4th OF) instead of guys like Rodrigo Lopez who will probably spend the season in AAA or out of the organization.
Meaningless stat #1: He had a .144 BA in 104 ABs
Meaningless stat #2: he had 25 walks in 131 PA
So, maybe he can be a good backup or a fill-in in AAA.
I’m sure he’s gonna make the team! pointless move.
Red Sox signed Paul Hoover- woo, WS here they come!?””!?WE?NOKE!???!?
See, I can do it too.
Red Sox were good before they signed Hoover, they had a great off season. The Yankees haven’t done anything good to there rotation
Yeah, “there rotation” looks bad. “here rotation” looks good!
It’s called midseason moves, trying out rookies, and figuring it out as they go along. Trust me, thinking you are 50 games up on the Yanks in September because of your recent moves is delusional
Did I ever say we were going to be 50 games up in September? no
it’s called exaggeration. no team has ever won a division by 50 games over the second place team. but, you are pretty sure at this point you’re winning the division pretty handily, correct?
No, there will be a challenge, but yes I think the Sox will win the division, but only by 5 games or less
The Sox have rotation issues. Beckett will continue to decline, same with Lackey, Bucholz won’t have the same caliber year, and Dice-K is good for nothing
In the AL East, it’s a huge risk trying someone out for 1/3 or 1/2 of a season. 3 wins can easily be the difference, even if those 3 wins just bring you down to 95 wins.
This is testament to how great the Yankees are. You either are in love with them to the extent you want to talk about ever minute detail or you posses such passionate hate for them that you need to scrutinize and comment every deal made. Had this been the pirated I doubt there would be more than 10 comments over a 7 day period.
Thank you God for making me a Yanks fan…..and other things as well 😉
Why is this a testament to how great the Yankees are? When someone cant make the 40 man for the Nationals and he makes it with the Yankees, I wouldnt count that as a great testament.
I said absolutely nothing about this “signing” making the Yankees great. What I said is that the Yankees, because of the tremendous amount of love or hate, inspire 100-200 comments about moves that would barely be a “blip” on the radar for most other teams. And I truly, truly hope that you don’t use this pick up as any indication that the Nats have a better team than the Yanks. Please don’t embarass yourself. If he makes the team then it would be as a 5th OF and nothing more. More than likely he will start 2011 in AAA.
he’s not talking about the Maxwell trade, but how people are being dumb and comparing this as an answer to the Lee signing or the Crawford signing. The trade is a testament to the fact that depth, is probably a good thing to have in order to you know give your outfielders a rest or have someone replace them in late innings for defensive purposes. Unless you know you don’t want to be rational and just use this as an excuse to bash someone…which just makes you a jerk(not calling you specifically a jerk).
But, seriously, the Red Sox signed two great offensive players, and lost two as well (Beltre and VMart). Their starting catcher is Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Meanwhile, the Yankees quietly made a few moves that bolstered their bench and bullpen. Sure, they have rotation issues. But did anyone plug Aaron Small into any pre-season rotation in 2005? No. Things happen. Now, can I please stop hearing about Red Sox fans’ plans for the ’11 World Series parade? Let’s let the season play out first; these teams are closer than you might think.
Wait… So were not having the parade?
Were not having? Were not having what?
holy chrissakes shut uppp
we also gain a half season of Pedroia, a couple months of Youk, we only lost 2/3 a season of VMart, and we gain a full season of Ells. I’m pretty sure there have been big improvements in Boston. Time to play the games and see how it all shakes out.
Yeah, I would much rather have the Yankees off-season where they lost one starting pitcher to possible retirement another to the Phillies, paid $51 million to a late 30’s poor fielding short stop and is signing the likes of Colon, Garcia and Prior to make up the last two spots in the rotation. Start planning the parade Yankee fans!
Jeter is not a poor fielding shortstop
-4.7 UZR in 2010. -42.4 UZR career. That is a poor fielder. What stats (other than errors which do not allow for declining range as he gets older) do you have that show he isn’t a poor fielder? Also, you cannot use Gold Gloves as they are voted on and tend to be horribly biased.
I agree that Gold Gloves are a joke, but I wouldn’t really call it biased. They are voted on by players and coaches, which may I add, they cannot vote for players on their team.
Therefore it is the rest of the leagues managers/coaches doing the voting, not BBWAA writers doing it.
I do agree though, Jeter is a poor fielding SS
don’t the red sox have some cute ball girls that might provide some depth? at least they’d be some eye candy on the bench. They can wear those tight pinstripes every player had to wear before CC broke the barrier with his MC hammer pants.
The Red Sox don’t wear pinstripes?
Leave it to a Mets fan to waste an otherwise decent joke, right? THAT RIGHT THERE shows why the Mets are what they are. The pimple faced little brother with the inferiority complex. 🙂
the cog was that the Yankees ownership until recently (in typical self important fashion) made players wear form fitting uniforms, shave (remember that one guy johnny Damon?), etc whereas the Red Sox never did. Not sure how the joke is negated, despite your best desperate attempt to troll everything I write on here, I’m thinking this Wankee offseason has got a little sand in your ham wallet and you just aren’t playing well with others.
Not much different than any other type of business that might require a certain level of professionalism from its employees. How is it wrong of the organization to require such things? I mean they are paying the player’s salary, right?
it’s a whats called a joke. Lets be honest, the Yankees required a certain level of whitism till they found a big enough black dude that they were too scared to tell him what to do. sorry Shefield you’re just too ineffectual compared to CC. the Yankees will suck pole for a cy young no matter how long it takes
Guess I’m too late for the “wow big splash” jokes. Seems like everyone has got them covered.
How about, This is a bigger splash than a Bartolo Colon canonball in the deep end!
Any ideas on what the Nats get in return? Please say Montero… Please say Montero….
Montero….. happy? …. but the Nats got olbrychowski
a man can dream. hey, at least it is more than the bag of balls I was expecting for Maxwell…
I would have gone to Cashman and shot him.
I think he just means a Montero autographed jersey, relax.
since when are there DH’s in the National league?
Since they started interleague play.
then by all means keep dreaming over your over-hyped prospect, the Mets have one by the name of Feranado Martinez and I’d take him over Jesus any day.
Seems like a quality option to have as a 5th OF or AAA depth. At the very least he can play all 3 OF positions, there’s certainly some value in that at least.
He’s a really good defender. Takes walks and has power. If he can shorten he swing and hit more regularly the Yankee’s are looking at free gold. As a Nats fan I can say he’s been one of our favorite prospects. He’s a good kid from the DC area. Oh well, I wish him nothing but the best…
He’s nothing more than a AAAA OF…He’s proven time and time again he can’t hit at the major league level.
I have no problems with jokes dude. Just direct them towards players that matter. Clearly the Yanks have given you much better fodder to laugh about right?
“Sox just signed Salty! Hahahahaha…woooo hoooo……HE’S suppose to replace VMarts bat??? hahahahaha…WHat a waste”.
See how dumb that would be?
C’mon, Salty’s clearly better than VMart, he’s even better than Mauer.
Joe Mauer goes to sleep every night and dreams of being Salty. And then he wakes up and calls him to apologize for daring to dream so big. It’s called the “Icarus effect” …….he flew too close to the sun. There can only be one Saltalamacchia….. and thank GOD because it’s a difficult name to spell.
Salty doesn’t do pull ups, he pulls the Earth down to him.
Salty isn’t lactose intolerant. He just doesn’t take any crap from milk.
Mauer would be better if he stayed away from Cabo.
I like Golson, maybe the competition will push him.
Anyone know about this pitcher the Nationals got. He has some decent numbers.
He was pretty bad as a starter, but put up better numbers when they moved him to the pen. He’s big and he throws hard, which is what Rizzo likes. It’ll be interesting to see if the Nats try to stretch him out or keep him in the bullpen. He’ll probably never make the big leagues, but if he’s figured out his control problems, you never know.
I am glad they put in the “other than” clarification, because Andruw is a ton of outfield depth all in himself.
Not even going to attempt to right the guy who the Nationals got for Maxwell but I like the deal..Has some decent numbers and could potentially make it to the big leagues a couple years down the road.
Maxwell wasn’t going to make the Nationals roster anytime soon, or in the future for that matter. Maybe a change of scenery is what he needs, who knows. I wish him the best of luck.
Who knows? Might be good speed off the bench.
The number of “ironic”/”insert here” comments on this thread is astounding… this has to be a record, right?