A Closer Look at the Marte and Nady Trade

Adding Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to this roster makes the Yankees a much more complete team. They've been playing great baseball lately, and should only improve with this move. Here's a little more on what the Yanks got, and what they had to give up.

Xavier Nady is a right-handed corner outfielder the Yanks have been looking for. The 29 year old is hitting a career best .330 this year, with 13 homers, 57 RBI, and an OPS of .919. This season may be a fluke, but even if his hits .280, which is his career average, that's a lot better than anything else the Yanks have thrown in left. He's also a very good defensive outfielder. Nady is signed through next season.

The Yanks have needed a lefty in the bullpen for a while now, and last night they finally got their man. They have been after Damaso Marte for a few years now, but could never find a deal they liked, Friday they finally did. Marte was 4-0 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP for Pittsburgh. In 46.2 IP he's allowed 38 H, 18 R, and 16 BB, while striking out 47. He has not handled lefties this season as well as he had in the past, this year they're hitting .255 against Marte, with righties hitting just .200. Hopefully he can regain his 2007 form where he held lefties to an .097 batting average. Marte has a team option for next season.

The Yankees had to give up four players in the trade, outfielder Jose Tabata, and pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen.

Tabata was once the Yankees highest rated prospect, and was ranked 3rd by Baseball America before this season, but his stock fell a bit this season, as he's been disappointing on and off the field. Tabata was hitting .248 with 3 HR, 36 RBI, 10 SB, and a .630 OPS for AA Trenton. He's also been suspended twice for off the field stuff, and apparently has a bad attitude. He's still just 19, and could turn himself around, and back into the prospect the Yankees thought they had, and many people still consider him a future star.

Ross Ohlendorf is familiar to Yankees fans, he pitched with the big club last year down the stretch, and for most of the first half this season. In 31 MLB games, he is 1-1, with a 6.02 ERA. After being sent down at the end of June the Yankees turn him back into a starting pitcher and he showed some signs of improvement. In five starts for AAA Scranton he went 1-1, with a 4.03 ERA, throwing 22.1 innings, allowed 28 H, walked 5 and struck out 25.

Jeff Karstens is also very familiar to Yankees fans, he has made 15 appearances and 9 starts for the Yanks, going 3-5 with a 5.65 ERA. He has pitched pretty well in the minors this season, in 12 starts for AAA Scranton Karstens was 6-4, with a 3.80 ERA, and in 68.2 IP, he's allowed 66 H, 15 BB, and struck out 55. Karstens has also had a lot of injury problems over the years.

Daniel McCutchen was ranked as the Yankees 14th best prospect, and is a nice pickup for the Pirates. This season he's 8-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 20 starts with Trenton and Scranton. In 123.1 IP he's allowed 116 H, 29 BB, and struck out 110. He may end up as the best player in the deal for Pittburgh.

All in all it was a trade the Yankees needed to make, they improved their team for this year without really hurting the future. I wish they had been able to make the first deal, because I really like McCutchen, but the Yankees still have a ton of arms in the minors, and Austin Jackson overtook Tabata as the best outfield prospect.

In other trade news, The Post reported today that Fox Sports reporting that last night the Mariners asked Jarrod Washburn about waiving his no-trade clause. With the Yankees very interesting in him there is a chance he may be the next player headed to the Bronx.