The Yankees move fast.
A day after a meeting to set their trade deadline priorities, the Yanks acquired both outfielder Xavier Nady and left-handed reliever Damaso Marte in a six-player trade with the Pirates, CBSSports.com has confirmed. The price for the two Pittsburgh players was four minor leaguers: pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Dan McCutchen, and outfielder Jose Tabata.
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The deal wasn't immediately announced, because both teams have to go over medical records. But it has been agreed to, and Nady was pulled out of Pittsburgh's game early on Friday night.
Scouts familiar with the Yankee organization say that Tabata is the best player of the four. He's a 19-year-old Venezuelan who has already advanced to the Double-A Eastern League, and Baseball America ranked him last winter as the Yankees' third-best prospect.
The Yankees have been searching for an outfield bat since Hideki Matsui went down with a knee injury, and they've also been in search of a left-handed reliever. They have no left-handers in their current bullpen, and Billy Traber, the primary lefty they've used this year, has allowed left-handed batters to hit .360 with two home runs and five walks and two hit batters in 32 plate appearances.
Marte, who was traded from the Yankees to the Pirates seven years ago (for Enrique Wilson), has a 3.47 ERA in 47 appearances this year for Pittsburgh. He's historically been good against lefties (a .198 career batting average), but this year lefties have hit .255 against him with one home run.
Nady is hitting a career-best .330 for the Pirates, with 13 home runs and 57 RBI in 88 games. He's been even better over the last month, batting .378 in his last 22 games.
"Nady's having a career year," one National League scout said this week. "Now's the time to trade him."
Ohlendorf is the only player the Pirates are getting who has big-league experience. The 25-year-old right-hander, acquired in the trade that sent Randy Johnson to Arizona, broke camp with the Yankees this year and was 1-1 with a 6.53 ERA in 25 appearances.
Karstens and McCutchen were both pitching at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
