Marte Nady Deal

This was written in the hours following the Nady/Marte deal before the real prospects were announced, so disregard some of what I say here. Still, it's cool to note the initial emotions and reactions here.

In case you missed it, the Bucs just announced that Damaso Marte and the X-Man had been dealt to the Yankees for what appears to be an injured minor league prospect, a Ryan Vogelsong, and two Matt Bruback and Bobby Hills. Uhmmm.... we're sure that Neal Huntington isn't really Dave Littlefield in a mask right? Right? Okay, yeah, maybe I'm not so sure anymore.

Okay, maybe these guys aren't THAT bad.
Ross Ohlendorf will almost certainly be the first guy we see in Pittsburgh. And by that, I mean probably tomorrow we will see him in the Burgh, with either JVB or Yossy Herrera getting the big D back down to Indy. Ohlendorf has had all sorts of trouble in the bigs with the Yanks, but that was as a reliever. His minor league stats, logged mostly as a starter, are decent, but nowhere approaching spectacular. Oh, and he is almost 26 years old. Actually now that I look at it, maybe this guy isn't a whole lot better then Blogelsong was. Let's move on...
Jose Tabata is the unequivocal gem of this package, and, naturally, he's an outfielder the Pirates biggest area of need....wait! That's not their biggest area of need! That's not even any sort of an area of need. If anything it's their only area of depth. So, naturally, adding what many consider to be a very good prospect makes all kinds of sense right? Uhmm...right? Oh, and did I happen to mention that Tabata evidently has a rough hamstring injury? Oh I didn't mention that? Well, it's true. No one is too sure how bad it is, but it certainly isn't what you want to hear about the key piece of a trade, right?
As for the other two prospects, Phil Coke and George Kontos, Coke is a 25 year old minor leaguer who has been a marginal starter but HE IS IN AA AND IS 25 YEARS OLD!!! George Kontos appears to have more upside to him then Coke and probably Ohlendorf. He is 23, apparently has a power arm, and has done reasonably well in AA this season. Still, he hasn't exactly had a Felix Hernandez type ascent through the minors, and would likely be a 25 year old rookie starter in his best case scenario. If you want the truthfully most in-depth coverage you can get, check our friends over at the Post-Gazette's PBC Blog. We may be back with a posting tomorrow depending on what happens, but until we next talk Bucco Fans, remember, the Stillers report Sunday and the Sid and his gang are only about 10 weeks from their season opener. Just keep repeating these things to yourself over and over and over...