XAVIER Nady and Damaso Marte were obtained to push the Yankees into the playoffs last year. They didn’t. They were retained to deepen the 2009 squad. They haven’t.
The Yankees were viewed as big winners, including in this space, after the late July trade last year that brought Nady and Marte from Pittsburgh. But that is a hard case to make today. Nady’s right elbow is damaged. He will try to rehab, avoid surgery and return in about a month. But that is iffy, at best.
They will not say this publicly, but Yankees officials already have shaky faith in Marte, whose reputation has long been great stuff, questionable fortitude.
In the offseason, the Yanks seriously considered dealing Nady, but GM Brian Cashman said no suitable return was ever offered. With Marte they had four alternatives: 1) Let him leave as a free agent without offering arbitration. 2) Let him leave and offer arbitration. Marte was a Type-A free agent, so if he signed elsewhere, the Yanks would have recouped two first-round picks. If he accepted arbitration, Marte would have belonged to the Yanks for one more year with a contract in the $3 million-$4 million range.
3) Pick up his option for one year at $6 million. 4) Re-sign him.
They re-signed him, which now looks like the worst choice. Early in the offseason, they gave Marte a three-year, $12 million deal and, soon after, the full impact of the spiraling economy hit the game, devastating the lefty relief market perhaps more than any other area. Lefty specialists such as Joe Beimel, Trever Miller, Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes and Brian Shouse all appeared in 69 or more games last season, all were free agents and only Reyes received two guaranteed years, and that was for a total of $3 million.
In fact, those five relievers combined are guaranteed $8.6 million. Now, you could argue Marte has the best stuff of the group, but not by enough to justify being assured $3.4 million more than the whole quintet.
And the Yankees had to give up four pieces for Nady and Marte: pitchers Jeff Karstens, Russ Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen and outfield prospect Jose Tabata. The Marlins went into Pittsburgh at the beginning of last week with an 11-1 record, and Ohlendorf and Karstens pitched well and beat them on consecutive days.
Still, one AL executive had this view of the deal, “Overall, the Yankees really didn’t give up very much at all in their eyes. Those pieces might help Pittsburgh, however. This is where the incredible disparity between the AL East and the NL Central comes into play. Frankly, the disparity explains a lot of why Nady and Marte haven’t met expectations. You can question the Yankees’ evaluation of Nady/Marte, but you can’t question what they gave up.”
Now it remains possible that Nady can come back and still provide righty oomph in this, his free-agent walk year, and/or that Marte can honor his superb stuff by pitching consistently well. If that occurs, what the Yankees gave up will not matter all that much. But it remains possible that Nady will never play for the Yanks again and that Marte is just a more expensive version of Felix Heredia or Gabe White. If that occurs, then we definitely will examine what transpires with this foursome:
KARSTENS: Pirates pitching coach Joe Kerrigan said by phone this week that Karstens reminds him of Bob Tewksbury. But it is obvious Karstens is the least consequential of the foursome. One AL official said, “He has 27 strikeouts in 611⁄3 innings since coming to the NL. That doesn’t work in the AL East.” His borderline stuff means the margin for error will always be thin. He is a No. 5 starter-long man type.
OHLENDORF: Kerrigan was the Yankees’ bullpen coach when Ohlendorf was a reliever. Most executives and scouts spoken to said that is what they imagined him being in the AL, especially for the Yanks who did not have the patience to go through starter growing pains. But the Pirates do, and Kerrigan projects that “in three years, after he makes 60-70 starts, I see him as a top-of-the-rotation guy. A
No. 1 or No. 2. He has the body with very thick legs and a strong upper half, the pitches and the intellect. He is a great kid.”
The Yanks had worries about Ohlendorf’s command and fortitude. Kerrigan says the righty is tough and the command will come with experience and as he sharpens his slider and changeup to work with his two-seam fastball.
McCUTCHEN: He had 20 strikeouts in his first 16 innings at Triple-A, and Kerrigan described him as “a tiger.” He is on the radar to be called up if Pittsburgh has problems this year, but McCutchen already is 26 and most scouts and executives see him as back-end starter. One scout said, “He’s a bulldog, but a max-effort guy who is extremely hard on his arm. There is a lot of violence and effort. But if he holds up, he will be a solid No. 4 or 5 guy.”
TABATA: One NL scout flatly called him “a wild card.” There is doubt about Tabata’s true age (he is listed at 20), his thickening body and his attitude. He is not off to a great start at Double-A after playing well late last year after being obtained by the Pirates. There was a time he was among the majors’ top prospects and some love lingers. One AL scout said, “What can I say, I still like the bat.”