It’s like a broken record every July with the Pittsburgh Pirates as they keep trading away good players for young, cheap ones that might some day be decent. With that in mind the Pirates have traded outfielder Xavier Nady and lefty reliever Damaso Marte to the Yankees for Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen and Jeff Karstens. Nady was having a super season for the Pirates in 2008. He played in 89 games for the Bucs and he was 108 for 327 (.330 avg, .918 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 13 homers and 57 RBIs. Damaso Marte was the Pirates’ current closer and he will be missed. Marte pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Pirates this season and he was 4-0 with 5 saves, a 3.47 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. The Pirates should have held out for more for Nady and Marte and they didn’t get high impact players in return for them.

19-year old righty swinging Jose Tabata was the #3 prospect in the Yanks minor league system coming into this season according to Baseball America. Tabata will miss the rest of this season due to injury. He played in 79 games in AA ball this season and he was 73 for 294 (.248 avg, .630 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 3 homers, 36 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Tabata has a lot of upside but the Pirates will have to be patient with him. The Pirates will likely bring up 25-year old righty Ross Ohlendorf immediately as he can handle either relieving or starting and the Pirates need help in both areas. Ohlendorf was the Yankees’ #9 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Ohlendorf pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Yankees this season and he was 1-1 with a 5.35 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He also has started 5 games in AAA ball where he was 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. 25-year old righty starting pitcher Daniel McCutchen was the Yanks’ #14 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. McCutchen has started 20 games in AA+AAA ball this season and he is 8-9 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He has whiffed 110 batters in 123.1 innings in the minors this season which shows that he has decent stuff. He could move right into the Pirates rotation which is pretty darn weak. 25-year old righty starting pitcher Jeff Karstens should also get a quick call up from the Pirates. He has started 12 games in AAA this season and he is 6-4 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Karstens has also pitched in 15 games (9 starts) in his major league career so far and he is 3-5 with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. This is likely just the beginning for the Pirates who will likely be trading more veterans before the trading deadline on Thursday, July 31st. Still, the Pirates should have gotten more for Nady and Marte than what they did. Hopefully, the Pirates will do better in future trades as the Yanks appeared to have fleeced them pretty good.