Yanks trade for Marte and Nady

It's not official yet, but from what I've been able to gather from several sources is that the Yankees have picked up lefthanded reliever Damaso Marte and outfielder Xavier Nady for pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, George Kontos, Phil Coke and outfielder Jose Tabata.

I'll give a more detailed analysis after the details have been confirmed, but my initial reaction is that it's a great trade for the Yankees. Marte and Nady are both good players who fit the Yankees' needs and are under contract for next season as well. Meanwhile, of the four prospects the Yankees gave up, only Tabata has the potential to be a real star, and he's had many personal issues and injury problems which have tempered enthusiasm for his future.

Update 11:27AM:It turns out that the trade is actually for Tabata, Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutchen. This makes the price slightly higher, as Karstens and McCutchen are more ready to contribute at the major league level than Kontos or Coke, the difference is very small. In fact, I'm tempted to say that it's a better price for the Yankees, as Kontos has the highest ceiling of the four, and Coke is the only lefthander. Considering how deep the Yankee farm system is in righthanded pitching, the loss of two guys that profile as back of the rotation types isn't a big deal.

Regardless, this is a great deal for the Yankees filling two of their four big holes. Now Brian Cashman faces the task of finding a better fifth starter than Sidney Ponson and a better catcher than Jose Molina without hurting the team in the long-term. As I've said before, I doubt that the latter is possible, but the former should be.

Right now the focus is on Jarrod Washburn, but I've got another idea if that falls through. With the acquisition of Marte, the dominating performances of Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and David Robertson, and the impending returns of Brian Bruney and Chris Britton, I think Kyle Farnsworth might be expendable. Rather than looking at teams that are out of contention and would want prospects in a trade, why not look at a contender like the Cubs, who have Rich Hill toiling away in the minors?