The Yankees have traded former Thunder reliever Adam Olbrychowski (video below) to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Justin Maxwell, who was designated for assignment last month.

Olbrychowski pitched 4 1/3 innings for the Thunder after being called up in early September, after major league rosters expanded. He posted a 2.08 ERA with four strikeouts and a walk.



More notably, Olbrychowski, the Yankees' fifth-round choice in 2007, struck out New Hampshire's Jonathan Jaspe to end the Eastern League Division Series (video above), which the Thunder swept.

Maxwell, who had Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing elbow last October and is expected to be ready for spring training, hit .144 with three home runs and 12 RBIs with the Nationals in 2010.

To make room for Maxwell on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated outfielder Jordan Parraz for assignment.

Every Wednesday, Minor Matters will unveil its top 10 Thunder players to watch next season. Considering that the Tampa Yankees took home the Florida State League crown in 2010, there's no reason to believe that the upcoming season will have a shortage of talent around the diamond.

No. 9 - Adam Olbrychowski



Bio: A hard-throwing right-hander out of Pepperdine University, the Yankees took Olbrychowski in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. That round also included Orioles starter Jake Arrieta, Athletics prospect Michael Taylor, Blue Jays starter Marc Rzepczynski, Steelers quarterback Dennis Dixon and Angels shortstop Andrew Romine, whose brother, Austin, may be familiar to Yankees fans.

In 2007 and 2008, Olbrychowski worked as a starter. He accumulated a 10-13 record with 123 strikeouts against 74 walks in 156 2/3 innings. After the conversion to the bullpen, the control problems still remained. He walked 40 in 58 innings but still managed to earn a very late promotion to Double-A, after the Thunder were eliminated from the Eastern League playoff race.

2010 season: Because of the control issues and a bit of a reliever logjam (which also kept Josh Schmidt at Double-A for most of the year), Olbrychowski did a near full repeat of High-A Tampa this season. He cut down on the walks (27 in 59 innings), and brought his high-octane gas to Trenton for last part of the year and the playoffs. In fact, he threw the final pitch of Division Series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (see video above).

What's Next: One imagines Olbrychowski will finally make the full-time leap to Double-A for the 2011 season. Because he is a hard-thrower, it's easy to see him in the mix with Tim Norton and (maybe) Grant Duff for the closer's role next season. Being a former fifth-rounder whom the Yankees paid $123,000, they're not going to give up on him quickly.

In the top video, Adam Olbrychowski fans Jonathan Jaspe to end the series. Below, Manny Banuelos blows away Edwin Encarnacion.