http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=958 All I know is that Phil Coke (mid-level pitching prospect) is going to Pittsburgh... there obviously will be a bigger name (or two) involved. I'd bet on Kennedy definitely being one. If Hughes, Montero, and Jackson are still Yankees... this is a good deal IMO.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/07/25/pirates.yanks.trade/index.html Tabata, Ohlendorf, and two prospects (one is Coke I'm fairly certain). I am surprised Tabata was in the deal, but he hasn't been able to stay healthy and walked out on his teammates twice this year. His stock had plummeted, and was more expendable, especially with Jackson putting it together and skyrocketing passed him on the prospect lists.
I believe the other prospect is P George Kontos, another mid-level prospect. I'm glad Cashman has stopped valuing mid-level prospects as if they're blue chippers. Although I guess he did it so he could build a strong minor league core.
Really good trade. Solves two big problems without giving up any blue chippers. Jackson has skyrocketed past Tabata on the prospect list, and to be able to get two guys that solve huge needs without giving up hughes, kennedy, horne, beccantes or montero has to be seen as a win.
Tabata is my boy...I could give a shit about Ohlendorf, and the other 2 I have no idea. Keeping Montero and Hughes makes me happy. I like X...But FINALLY getting a left reliever almost made me spin my head, and a good one at that, not some Villone, Myers, or Heredia...An actual lefty reliever.
The guy that I hate losing the most, oddly enough, is Kontos. He was pitching well for Trenton this year (3.77 ERA, 1.3 WHIP, 103 K, 43 BB in 107.1 innings) and think at the very worst he'd be a good guy have as a middle reliever. But all in all, I love the trade. I think Tabata gets severely overrated because he's so young. He's lost some speed and has an attitude straight out of the shit pile.
So you guys think Nady is only mediocre? Wow. A lot of other teams wanted him just as bad as the Yankees did. Isn't he batting .330 with 13 HRs and 57 RBIs? The Yankees can use that.
I'm happy with the trade. The Yankees needed desperately to balance the bullpen and the offense. This would come into play in the playoffs when other teams have lefty specialists to get our guys out, and we have no righties to split them up with. If Po and Matsui are out for the year, we need another bat to make the lineup deeper. Marte gives us a reliable lefty from the bullpen for the first time in a while.
I remember him being a stats compiler on the Mets. Put up nice numbers, but never delivered in the clutch.
