Justin Maxwell Traded To Kansas City

      In A somewhat unexpected move today, Justin Maxwell was dealt to KC in return for 20 year old RHP Kyle Smith. Just when you think you've seen the extent of Jeff Luhnow's wizardry, he pulls this rabbit out of his hat. A 29 year old, often injured Jmax, in return for a young RHP, succeeding in full season advanced A ball, ranked 11th overall in a solid Kansas City system. Jmax spent the vast majority of the year on the DL, and wasn't able to find his power stroke while healthy. If Maxwell can remain healthy, he'll likely help the Royals down the stretch, but regardless of his success in KC, I love the deal. I cant wrap my mind around how Luhnow pulled this off. Scouting reports say Kyle's fastball tops out at 93 and sits 89-90, and his breaking stuff and change are major league serviceable. His mechanics are smooth and conducive to velocity as he moves forward, and at 6'0 170lbs, he has room to fill out as he matures. His low BB/9 of 2.5 and K/9 of 9.9, are two very sexy numbers, and if he can maintain rates in the ballpark of those, success is projectable as he moves through the ranks. The change is an intriguing pitch considering he can control and use it effectively at 20. I assume Smith will go to Lancaster and possibly see Corpus by the end of the year. Here's a look at his numbers and a scouting video to get an idea of his delivery.. 

Kyle Smith:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2012	19	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-Rk	KCR	5	3	.625	2.86	14	14	0	0	0	0	72.1	65	27	23	3	21	0	98	2	0	4	300	1.189	8.1	0.4	2.6	12.2	4.67
2012	19	Idaho Falls	PION	Rk	KCR	1	0	1.000	1.80	1	1	0	0	0	0	5.0	3	1	1	0	1	0	11	1	0	0	20	0.800	5.4	0.0	1.8	19.8	11.00
2012	19	Kane County	MIDW	A	KCR	4	3	.571	2.94	13	13	0	0	0	0	67.1	62	26	22	3	20	0	87	1	0	4	280	1.218	8.3	0.4	2.7	11.6	4.35
2013	20	Wilmington	CARL	A+	KCR	5	4	.556	2.85	19	19	0	0	0	0	104.1	93	38	33	9	29	0	96	5	1	5	432	1.169	8.0	0.8	2.5	8.3	3.31