Remeber last year when the Pirates traded Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte
to the Yankees in exchange for Jose Tabata, Dan McCutchen, Jeff
Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf? Remember how lots of people thought the
Yankees won that trade? About how it was highway robbery of the Pirates
that Cashman didn’t throw in Melky or Kennedy or anyone like that?
Well, what a difference 11 months make:
After the Yankees’ second offensive explosion in row, they announced
that another veteran hitter would not be joining them anytime soon.
Outfielder Xavier Nady, who had tried to avoid surgery for the elbow
injury he sustained in April, pulled himself from a game with Class AAA
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after a painful throw.
“It’s the thing you try to avoid,” said General Manager Brian
Cashman, who spoke to Scranton Manager Dave Miley. “It could be the
worst-case scenario.”
And of course Damaso Marte has been out for two months too. Meanwhile,
Russ Ohlendorf gave up two runs in seven innings yesterday and has been
a fairly serviceable fourth/fifth starter type. This is not to say that
the Pirates made out like bandits or anything — Tabata is going
nowhere right now and Karstens is roster filler at best — but at least
they’re playing.
The point, I guess, is that it’s pretty hard to judge most trades
the moment they happen. The Yankees would probably like to take this
one back at this point, and no one really felt that way last year.
