The Sommer Frieze

Like the guy above, Cashman gets his man (men)…

I love the deal.

The Yanks picked up Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from Pittsburgh for Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata, Phil Coke and George Kontos. It’s great when soon after the deal is made, other teams are complaining that you didn’t give up enough.

Nady will be 30 in November, so he’s a good age. He has NY experience, having played with the Mets for part of 2006. For the Pirates, he was hitting .330-13-57 this year. OPS+ 142. The Yanks have struggled against lefty pitching this year, and Nady’s righty bat was picked up to remedy that. He is a .281 career hitter with an OPS+ of 108. He could stand to be a little more patient, (23 walks and 101 K’s last year). He has mostly played RF, but has played 1b, CF, and LF. He has 10 assists this year, helping the defense.

Marte is 33 and should give the Yanks the best lefty bullpen reliever that they have had since the better days of Mike Stanton. Think of the lefties that they have tried since Stanton’s first stint with the Yanks. (Remember that there was a second, less successful stint). Hammond, Gabe White, Felix Heredia, Alan Embree, Sean Henn, Traber, Villone, Mike Myers. For the most part, not good.

Marte was 4-0, 3.47 for the Pirates this year. (ERA+ 121). For his career, a 3.21 ERA (ERA+ 141). He won a ring with the 2005 White Sox. He averages over a K/IP and lefties are hitting .198 off him in his career. You now have Mo, Marte, Farnsworth, Edwar, Robertson, Veras. You don’t have to rush Bruney back. Hawkins can be DFA’d NOW. Giese can stay as a long man until Bruney is ready. The bullpen is looking better and better (and imagine when Melancon, Cox or Claggett are major league ready in 2009 or 2010). There is depth here.

So who did the Yanks give up?

Ross Ohlendorf was yanked around this year. From one-inning guy to long man. It seemed like he was ok for an inning, then inning two would bite him. He was in only six games last year, 0-0, 2.84 then gave up 3 R in 1 postseason inning. He never got it going this year, going 1-1, 6.53 before being sent down to SWB. Ohlendorf will be 26 in a couple of weeks. The Pirates are looking at him as a starter. His MLB totals to date? 46 1/3 MLB IP, 1-1, 6.02. With the depth the Yanks had in the bullpen (he was going to be passed by the aforementioned Melancon, Cox and Claggett, for example), as well as Hughes, McCutchen and Kennedy as starters (to name just three), Ohlendorf was expendable.

Jose Tabata is intriguing. He may or may not rise up to bite the Yanks in the deal. He’ll turn 20 on August 12th, but his AA numbers weren’t good this year. It’s too early for any organization to give up on him, but to make this deal, he was expendable. He hit .248-3-36 for Trenton this year but injured a hamstring recently and is most likely done for the year. He has hit .291 in the minors but hasn’t turned on the power yet. He did have good speed, 10 SB this year and 62 overall in the minors. His maturity and ability to handle NY were called into question this year when he had a couple of issues down in Trenton.

Phil Coke was having a nice year at Trenton, 9-4, 2.60 there, but the lefty just turned 26. 26 and in AA? Expendable. Hate to lose the lefty, but is there another lefty coming (Washburn or, if you want to wait until the offseason…CC)? Even without another lefty coming, he was behind Ugh-Gawa and Chase Wright.

George Kontos is 23. He was 3-9, 3.77 at AA Trenton this year. In the past two years, he is 7-15, 3.89. The righty averaged over a K an inning. Most likely he was stuck behind Horne, Eric Hacker, McCutchen…not to mention Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Aceves.

In short, the Yanks used their pitching surplus to fill some pressing needs. They picked up a righty bat they desperately needed. Now, in Sexson and Nady, they have something that Ensberg and Shelley Duncan weren’t giving them. In Marte they got the solid lefty that they have been strugging to find since Mike Stanton in 2002.

For that they did not give up Austin Jackson, Hughes, Horne, Kennedy, or Aceves. They didn’t give up Melancon, Claggett or Cox. They gave up two “prospects” who are over 25. Even people like Gardner, Alberto Gonzalez, Justin Christian stay. Same with Chase Wright and Jason Jones.

Who knows what happens, but as of now, it looks like a GREAT deal for the Yanks.

I love it.