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Year		Comment
2016		If you look up “irony” in a baseball dictionary instead of Merriam-Webster's, you'll find Justin Maxwell, who survived cut day in April but not roster expansion in September.
2015		Quad-A outfielder Justin Maxwell has always looked the part, but injuries, bad timing and inconsistent performance have kept him from the career his tools have long foretold; now on the wrong side of 30, he's just about out of chances.
2014		On a quest for right-handed power, the Royals acquired Maxwell from Houston at the trade deadline. He�s been dogged by injuries his entire career and last season was no different, as he missed time with a broken hand and suffered a concussion while with the Astros. Injury-free in KC, he had a scorching August (.311/.391/.590), but stumbled to the finish line in September (.194/.286/.361). As always, the truth lies somewhere in between. When he�s healthy he can do a bit of everything. He plays a solid right field (and can hang in center), has a strong arm, can swipe a bag. However, he�s turning 30 and will have to finally stay healthy or be haunted by the dreaded �P� word�potential.
2013		As with Greene, Maxwell was another highly regarded 2005 college hitter, graduating from the University of Maryland, where he, um, got injured a lot and slid to the fourth round. Not much has changed in the ensuing years, as he still demonstrates five-tool talent in a body that suggests huge power potential. These looks belie the fragility of the athlete, as he continues to rack up the disabled list days year after year. The positive spin on the injuries is that there's a lot more untapped upside than with most players his age, as his power stats from last year indicate.
2012		The Yankees traded for fourth outfielder Justin Maxwell just before spring training, but Tommy John surgery knocked him out before the power he showed at Scranton could help the parent club.
2011		Already 27, Maxwell is everything you should want in an everyday center fielder. He's a quality glove afield and a plus baserunner, armed with power in his stroke, strong of arm, and fleet of foot. However, between past problems staying healthy and a swing hole-y enough to be Swiss, he's in danger of never catching the one big break he needs to get the three or four months and a few hundred at-bats necessary to show what he can do. The Mariners' Franklin Gutierrez got his break, but that took a front office willing to bet on him. As long as Maxwell is planted behind Nyjer Morgan's more obvious and more obviously meager day-to-day scraptitude, it isn't happening for Maxwell in DC, and the addition of Corey Brown�a younger, similarly injury-prone, and talented outfielder�narrows his window still more.
2010		Always a physical specimen but only occasionally healthy, Maxwell provides a lunch menu version of Mike Cameron�s more filling entree: speed, power, patience, strikeouts, and center-field defense, but somewhat less of each. Injuries have slowed his development such that he only just reached Triple-A, but his disappointing numbers there may have been overshadowed by a .292/.370/.554 line after rosters expanded that has him vying for a big-league bench job this spring. He�s best cast as a fourth outfielder, where his right-handed bat and solid makeup can help alleviate Nyjer Morgan�s platoon issues and Elijah Dukes� Elijah Dukes issues, but a team that makes him an everyday corner outfielder would be settling.
2009		Maxwell's season ended in May when he broke his right wrist trying to make a diving catch. Injuries are nothing new for him; they shortened his college career (at Maryland), and dropped him back to the fourth round of the 2005 draft. While he still gets high marks for power, speed, and maturity (which he should, given his age), he did have strikeout problems, though he had shown some dramatic improvement there before getting hurt. The lost time and the Nats' crowded outfield make him an even deeper sleeper than he was, but he's still a good candidate to come out of nowhere.
2008		You can't really call Maxwell a sleeper; he's always had tremendous potential, and if not for his problems with injuries, he'd have shown up on prospect lists sooner and ranked higher. Finally healthy enough to play a full season last year, he delivered on the power-speed package the Nats anticipated when they picked him in the fourth round of the 2005 draft. After crushing A-ball pitching, he initially struggled upon his promotion to High-A, but rebounded with a good finish, bopping 11 homers in his last 27 games. The Nats responded by calling the local kid from suburban Olney, Maryland, up at the tail end of the season to give him a taste of major league life, then shipping him off to the AFL for extra seasoning. He's still a bit raw at the plate and is always going to strike out a lot, but it won't be long before he's pushing for a spot in an already crowded outfield.
2007		Athletic yet injury-prone, Justin Maxwell has the basic attributes that excite scouts (power, speed, and a plus arm), but he`s going to have to start convincing people that those tools will wind up on the diamond instead of the trainer`s table.

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