Sports

Yanks deal little help to fantsy lineups

The Yankees didn’t wait around for Thursday’s trade deadline to make a splash, acquiring from the Pirates reliever Damaso Marte and outfielder Xavier Nady on Friday in exchange for four players who could as easily become forgotten scrubs as they could be bona fide major leaguers.

What can you do to make a similar splash in your fantasy league? First, don’t count on these guys to provide increased fantasy production, for the most part. Xavier Nady, OF, Yankees – Nady is the one player whose fantasy production could benefit. He will have more protection around him in the lineup, and Yankee Stadium is more generous with its home runs than PNC Park in Pittsburgh. What happens if Hideki Matsui returns and Jorge Posada comes back strong? Those are big ifs. Scope out your Nady owner and see if you can get him at Pittsburgh prices before the Big Apple inflation sets in.

Damaso Marte, LP, Yankees – What a tease. It was just three ago when he became a hot waiver pick after taking over the closing duties for the Pirates. Now, he’ll be relegated to middle relief. Maybe he gets a few garbage wins, but his ERA, WHIP and strikeout numbers aren’t good enough to justify carrying him. If you’re looking for middle relievers, you’re still better off with Scot Shields, Heath Bell, Hong-Chih Kuo, Dauner Sanchez or even, gulp, Kyle Farnsworth.

Ross Ohlendorf RP / Jeff Karstens, RP, Pirates – Value is better if they use either as a starter, but they would be starting for the Pirates, whose best starter (Paul Maholm) has a, ahem, robust seven wins. Either might be useful in NL-only leagues if used as a starter, but both are useless otherwise.

Jose Tabata, OF, Pirates – He’ll be 20 next month, so he’s got a ways to go before he’s ripe, but scouts seem to think highly of him. He could be a solid investment for the future in deep keeper leagues, but don’t look for production this year, even if he happens to make it to the big leagues.

Dan McCutchen, P, Pirates – Has a 50-game drug suspension on his record, college and minor league performance has been inconsistent. Check back in a year or two.

dloftis@nypost.com