Yanks land Nady and Marte

by John Amato on Jul 25, 2008 8:31 PM EDT in New York Yankees Analysis

The Yankees agreed Friday evening to a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates that would give New York left-handed pitcher Damaso Marte and right fielder Xavier Nady.

The Pirates will receive right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf, right-handed pitcher George Kontos, left-handed pitcher Phil Coke and right fielder Jose Tabata in return. The trade is tentative pending physicals.

The Yanks got the right handed bat/outfielder and lefty reliever they needed so badly.

UPDATE by anaconda:

Obviously, this trade really helps the Yanks in the short term with Xavier Nady likely to take over in LF. Nady is eligible for arbitration after this season, so the odds are good that we're looking at the Yanks' right-fielder next season and they will let Abreu walk.

I'm not the biggest fan of Nady because his numbers this season are far better than his career averages. I'm afraid he's not even close to the .330 BA, 20 home run pace that he's displayed this season. But let's hope he tears it up the rest of the season and they can figure out what to do with him during the offseason.

Damaso Marte clearly gives the Yanks a true left-handed set-up guy they really haven't had since Mike Stanton. Marte will probably split time with Kyle Farnsworth in the 8th inning. He also has a team option for 2009 that the Yanks will certainly pick up.

Jose Tabata has a ton of raw talent, but has undoubtedly had a rough season with his struggles at the plate and his behavior/attitude and injury problems. Losing him sucks, but he likely wasn't going to help the big club until 2011, if at all.

I've always been a big fan of Ross Ohlendorf and I'm not thrilled about seeing him go. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him emerge as a force in the Pirates bullpen over the next couple of years.

Phil Coke was having a terrific season for the Trenton Thunder, but it's unlikely he would have become much more than a reliever or a fifth starter for the big club. Coke is also a lefty and is 26 years old still pitching in Double-A, so it's unlikely that he is a diamond in the rough that the Yanks have simply overlooked the last few years.

All in all, this is a good trade for the Yanks. Again, I'm not sold on Nady being the long-term answer for this team, but he will certainly help them this season.

But adding Marte to the bullpen mix gives them a big weapon from the left side that they haven't had in several years.

Poll

Did Cashman make the right move with this trade?

Yes

264 votes

No

26 votes

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Comments

I give this trade a B

A ‘B’ is pretty good. We definitely got what we needed. It would be better if Marte was a starter, but Kennedy and Hughes might be back soon, which could (maybe) be a good thing.

As far as the Pirates end of this deal, the only player I’ll really miss is Ohlendorf. I think he’s got real high potential. Tabata’s lost a lot of stock this year, and his AA numbers are pretty unimpressive for a former #1 prospect. Coke and Kontos are decent minor league pitchers who might help Pittsburgh more than they could help us, buried in our system behind better prospects (Robertson, Melancon, Sanchez).

So, I give this trade a B. Pittsburgh got a decent return for their guys, and we got a good outfielder, although he’ll probably drop off a bit the second half. And we also got a great lefty reliever, which makes this a B only because our bullpen has not been the root of our pitching problems: our starters have.

A ‘B’ is still good enough for me though. Thoughts?

by DeathSquire36 on Jul 25, 2008 8:43 PM EDT reply actions

YAY!!!

Fuck it man I’m happy as hell about this trade…...we needed both these guys and shows me that we’re finally serious about making a run. I was starting to wonder if Hank was cut out for the job a few times during June when it appeared we weren’t in many talks…..

Definitely would agree with a B….maybe a B+. I used to think Ohlendorf was pretty good but he made my shit list after giving up some serious runs in during the first 2 months of the season…..

HAPPY AS HELL ABOUT THIS….GOTTA PULL OUT THIS WIN NOW!

by yanks4life on Jul 25, 2008 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Hank

Hank talks…to the media, not to other teams. He’s not the GM. Brian Cashman made this trade and deserves the accolades. This is the trade I was hoping for—these exact two players. And it happened for less than I thought it would take. Granted, Marte is not as good this season as he sometimes has been, but he’s a lot better than Hawkins, and now we’ll hopefully cut bait on him.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on Jul 25, 2008 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Ohlendorf got rocked

I wasn’t as high on him after he was getting shelled, but he’s got a chance to do good things. To me this is a steal. maybe they can find a taker for Hawkins in the NL now, but the bullpen is outstanding. And they needed a bat behind ARod.

by John Amato on Jul 25, 2008 9:12 PM EDT reply actions

ESPN II hasn't even mentioned the trade yet.

Terry Glenn is more important I guess.

by John Amato on Jul 25, 2008 9:14 PM EDT reply actions

Sorry I jumped the gun on you anaconda

I have a small break off the campaign trail and the trade deadline is my favorite time to post…

by John Amato on Jul 25, 2008 9:20 PM EDT reply actions

Roster Move, Future Trade

I think they’ll send Gardner down so he can keep getting regular playing time, and keep Christian up. Christian was proving to be better offensively anyway.

Also, for those of you down on this trade because it wasn’t a starter, I wouldn’t be surprised if we still land Washburn. That trade, at least as rumored, wouldn’t involve the loss of more than Igawa and one or two other minor leaguers. We could yet see help for our rotation. Though maybe Cashman doesn’t want to impede the return of Kennedy and Wang. I think it’d be better to trade for Washburn now and just DFA him or Ponson when Wang returns.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on Jul 25, 2008 10:25 PM EDT reply actions

Washburn is signed through 2009 at $10M+

so trading for him would mean he’s guaranteed a spot in the rotation next season as well.

DFA’ing someone is not as easy as you think – especially when Hawkins has sucked all season and he’s still on the team.

by anaconda on Jul 25, 2008 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Two dimes for four nickels

Yankees get players for this year without sacrificing much for the future. No one they gave up was going to be much of a factor this year (sorry, Ross).

by Jugwine on Jul 25, 2008 10:35 PM EDT reply actions

Had to make a trade

To land Marte and Nady, the Yanks had to give up something like Ohlendorf and Tabata. After all, these two players were coveted by many teams like TB and NY Mets. I am not sure if Tabata and Ohlendorf will ever reach their potential, but I am O.K. with this trade. Marte can be a steady LHP out of bullpen for at least couple years. If indeed this is a breakout year for Nady, I am all for Nady replacing Abreu next year. The remaining question is if the Yanks will make another trade. The remaining hole hole on the current roster is 4th/5th SP and backup catcher. As for SP, I am hoping for either CMW or IPK can come back to the rotation and give steady efforts. I would not give up any major prospects to get another SP. The more pressing need is to get a backup catcher as Jorge won’t be back as a catcher. If they can get Benji Molina, I would pull the trigger. But not for Gerald Laird as I do not see him as much of an upgrade over Chad Moeller. It would be interesting to what TB and Boston will do before the deadline.

by yankeesintexas on Jul 25, 2008 10:36 PM EDT reply actions

Not a bad deal

Plug Nady into LF, hope he continues his career year, and let somebody else pay him next year. Marte’s a great pick up for a lefty-less bullpen- although that club option for ‘09 at $6M? He better be reeeal good for the yanks to pick that up. Like, taking over the 8th inning role good.

And not terribly surprised to see any of the guys go that they gave up. Thought maybe RossO would be up again at some point this year, but he wasn’t ever overly impressive. Tabata is the wild card… I think Cash was good to trade him now before his value completely tanked. He could turn it around of course, he’s young, but there’s never any guarantees.

The Jayfiss Report ...one fan's rants

by NumberSeven on Jul 25, 2008 11:31 PM EDT reply actions

Slight correction

Nady is not a free agent until after 2009. He is arbitration eligible again after this season, and will likely be the starting RF for the Yanks next season.

This allows them to let Abreu walk and pick up a nice draft pick, as Bobby will probably be a Type A player.

Marte is a sweet pickup and a nice weapon to have down the stretch. The Yanks could decline his option and offer him arbitration, which would give them another pick should Marte decide to become a free agent (I think).

The Yanks got better and more flexible this year, and they got better and more flexible next year too. Nice move by Cashman.

I doubt they will consider it, but when Damon can throw again (I use that term loosely), would Girardi be tempted to play him in center, Nady in left and Abreu in right? Melky could be a defensive replacement. I wouldn’t do it every day but I might try it once or twice a week.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on Jul 25, 2008 11:49 PM EDT reply actions

My bad

You are correct. Nady is probably a better option than Abreu and he’s 5 years younger, so at least they’re going in the right direction.

by anaconda on Jul 26, 2008 12:02 AM EDT up reply actions

Not quite a 'B' anymore.

Now that all the major news outlets have finally got their facts straight, it seems it’s not Kontos and Coke, but Karstens and McCutchen heading to Pittsburgh. Definitely a better haul for Pittsburgh.

In just my opinion, Karstens was not going to be an effective major leaguer, though he might be alright as a temporary number 5 starter in a National League rotation. Yet McCutchen had far more upside in our system than both Kontos and Coke, so I think this trade is more worthy of a B-. We’ll see very quickly if my initial reaction of ‘B’ was accurate, but this deal just doesn’t look as sweet anymore.

A ‘B-’ still isn’t bad, but I would have rather of gotten Jason Bay instead of Nady for what we gave up. Oh well.

by DeathSquire36 on Jul 26, 2008 1:25 PM EDT reply actions