Breaking news...

Peter Abraham of the NY Post, in his LoHud Yankees Blog reports the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte deal has been reconfigured (EDIT - it's official now. The final pieces weren't put together until this morning. Ohlendorf and Karstens join the 40-man roster, and Steve Pearce was called up from Indy.)

The Yankees are sending RHP Dan McCutchen, RHP Jeff Karstens, OF Jose Tabata and RHP Ross Ohlendorf to Pittsburgh for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. LHP Phil Coke and RHP George Kontos are out of the mix now.

We sort of wondered when the teams refused to name names whether the deal was still in flux. Pick one from column A, another from column B...

Karstens, 26, throws a 90-91 MPH heater with an improving splitter, a change up he uses for his out pitch, and a curve he rarely shows. He's 6-4 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 3.80 ERA. In two years with the Yankees, Karsens is 3-5 with a 5.65 ERA as a starter and long man.

McCutchen, 25, is highly considered in the Yankee organization and was generally thought to be untouchable. He throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a curve and change - and it's said he's developed a pretty mean slider at Scranton, where he's 4-6 with a 3.58 ERA.

He was also suspended 50 games for steroid use between 2006-07. McCutchen denies that allegation, saying it wasn't the juice but an ADD med he was taking.

Both guys are starters and good control/low hit pitchers. McCutchen has a WHIP of 1.19, Karstens 1.18. We really liked Kontos, but this duo is an upgrade over the discarded pair. Older, but nearer to being MLB ready, even if they're part of the second tier of Bronx Bomber pitching.

It also shows how vital depth is in an organization. The Yankees didn't put a dent in their list of their top pitching prospects and landed a pair of proven MLB players. But while it didn't hurt their system a twit, it immediately upgraded Pittsburgh's. The Pirates are still years away from that ability to reload or deal.

Our take? While many fans point enviously to Billy Beane's booty bag, he traded pitching, and everyone was willing to bid high for that commodity. The Pirates needed pitching, and it was obvious no one was parting with their elite. The Bucs were offered AA arms across the board, and that was as good as it would get.

So they got a talented headcase in Tabata, who they can groom to replace Bay someday if he lives up to his potential. McCutchen is a top flight AA arm and more than holding his own in AAA.

Ohlendorf and Karstens can toss MLB ball, even if at the back end of the rotation or as long men, and the recent implosion of Pirate pitching attests to their need for that. Of course, they could became part of the Indy crop of AAAA pitchers, too, so the jury is out on them until they put up or shut up.

Face it - Nady and Marte were dead men walking as far as the Pirate suits were concerned. Tampa and the Mets wouldn't or couldn't beat the Yankee deal.

So Pittsburgh pulled the trigger to hopefully get some pitching depth at the upper levels with Ohlendorf and Karstens - remember, Indy's rotation was in shambles, too - and some down-the-road potential with McCutchen and Tabata.

Could they have done better holding out to the deadline? Maybe, but obviously they thought not. A couple of days won't tell the tale, anyway. A couple of years will.

Now it's Jay Bay's turn on the hot seat. According to the MLB.com Pro Blog:

Before Friday night's game against the Phillies, many of the Braves players were asking whether Jason Bay was going to be one of their teammates at some point this weekend. On Thursday night, some of them were under the impression that a deal with the Pirates was imminent.

In fact one player said he had expected to wake up on Friday and learn the deal was complete. But when asked on Friday night, the Braves said they weren't close to making a deal for Bay.

Still as Braves GM Frank Wren continues his search for a power bat, Bay remains a definite candidate.

Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News reports:

The Mets have narrowed their trade focus to acquiring a corner outfielder, and one team insider expressed optimism that Cleveland's Casey Blake, Seattle's Raul Ibanez or Pittsburgh's Jason Bay could be obtained next week.

The belief is that those teams' demands, currently exorbitant, will relax as Thursday's trading deadline approaches. GM Omar Minaya wouldn't discuss individual players, but acknowledged the organization has started to focus on particular targets.

The Pirates' trade of Xavier Nady last night might change Pittsburgh's plans about trading Bay.

Could shape up to be an interesting week of rumors ahead of us, but we think Bay stays and any deals would be of smaller pieces.

As Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes about future wheeling and dealing:

There is not believed to be any deal imminent. And because of the steady financial state of the team and the contract situations of the remaining players, the Pirates would have to be blown away by an offer to cut a deal. As a result, it remains plausible, but unlikely, that any other big deals will come down in Pittsburgh over the next week.

Saturday pre-game

MLB Trade Rumors' Tim Dierkes take on the Bucco deal:

The return is not terribly impressive for Nady and Marte. I don't like the idea of the Bucs taking Tabata as the centerpiece - there is too much projection involved with him. If Ohlendorf and Ian Kennedy could've been had, I would've opted for that.

Neal Huntington's view:

We feel like we are adding quality depth to our organization. As we talked about from the beginning, in order to be a successful, sustainable, championship-caliber organization that plays meaningful games into September and October, we need to have options.

Unfortunately, we've not had the necessary depth to be able to sustain injury, to be able to sustain less than ideal performance. This deal, if it goes through, will begin this process of beginning to accumulate that necessary depth.

> A couple of other trade notes: Ross Ohlendorf was initially acquired by the Yankees when they sent Randy Johnson back to Arizona in 2007, and is expected to be the only player in the deal to land on the Pirate roster immediately.

> Doug Mientkiewicz, who played one year in the Yankees organization, referred to Tabata as "a little Manny Ramirez." We don't know if that's a compliment or not.

> Phil Coke pitched the first inning for Trenton before he was pulled. He struck out the side.

> George Kontos was a fifth-round selection in the 2005 draft and has moved up a level in the Yankees farm system in each of the last three years. So he should be in Pittsburgh in 2010, right?

> Today's question - do they start the Andrew McCutchen era and call him up, or do they take the safe route and bring back Nyjer Morgan to take Nady's spot in the lineup? Both add some speed and top-of-the-lineup presence. One's clock is already ticking; the other has yet to have his clock wound.

Do the suits a) think Cutch is ready, and more importantly, b) want to delay his MLB service time by a year by keeping him at Indy?

And with Ohlendorf looming, do you think this is a big start for JVB?

On the minor league front: Gorzo (1-1, 3.27 ERA) won his first game with Indy. He allowed five hits and one run in five innings. LF Nyjer Morgan (.278) had three hits, including a double, two runs scored and an RBI. CF Andrew McCutchen (.282) had two hits and two RBI.

> RHP Jimmy Barthmaier, struck by a line drive on his right wrist Thursday night, did not sustain a fracture, according to X-rays taken yesterday. He's listed as day to day and might be able to take his pitching turn next week.

> CF Chris Duffy (inner ear infection) has been placed on the minor league DL and sent to Bradenton. He could be out another seven to 10 days.

> LF Melvin Dorta (.292) went 2-4 and drove in all three runs for Altoona with a two-run home run in the sixth and a solo shot in the eighth in its loss tonight.

> 2B Shelby Ford returned to the Curve roster from the DL yesterday. He had been on ice since July 12 because of a high ankle sprain.

> Lynchburg went down 4-2. 2B Jim Negrych (.371) had two hits and an RBI.

> State College won 4-3. RHP Brian Leach (1-0, 4.05 ERA) allowed just three hits and struck out five in five innings of relief to pick up the win.

3B Jeremy Farrell (.339) was 2 for 4, including his third double this season and an RBI. 2B Chad Rice (.239) was 2 for 3 with two runs scored. LF Quincy Latimore (.211) and CF Ciro Rosero (.222) each had two hits and a stolen base.

> Spike's OF Cole White and C Chris Simmons have been recalled to active duty by the United States Army. The military changed its stance on allowing athletes to serve their stint as recruiters. The Pirates retain their rights, but how long they'll stay in khaki instead of Bucco black and gold isn't known.

Pellas on the Pirates: The First Salvo

Huntington Fires The First Salvo in the Trade Wars...But Did He Hit The Target?

As the 2008 season has played out, most observers figured that the Pirates were likely to tempt contending teams with a two player package of outfielder-first baseman Xavier Nady and lefthanded reliever Damaso Marte.

Lo and behold, that's precisely what happened. The winner of the presumed sweepstakes among an undetermined number of bidders was the New York Yankees. (I personally thought the Rays, fighting to stay ahead of the Yankees in the A. L. East, would step up to the plate. Apparently they did not.)

Prior to this deal, new Pirates GM Neil Huntington made a number of fairly small, usually pretty sharp trades and acquisitions. Jason Michaels, the quintessential fourth outfielder and a very handy fellow, was fished out of the water after the Cleveland Indians' season plunged to the bottom. Doug Mientkiewicz was a savvy acquisition in spring training, even if it seems it was Mientkiewicz who more or less "acquired" himself for the Pirates.

Getting Tyler Yates to help in the 'pen was a sound move, though losing Todd Redmond---lately lighting it up in double A in the Braves' system---could possibly hurt down the road. Phil Dumatrait proved to be an excellent scrapheap pickup before he hurt his shoulder again. All of these and several minor league, organizational-filler type moves have proven to be solid, professional moves by the new captain.

But this deal was different. This was the first of what could be a series of large scale, near-blockbuster, veterans-for-youngsters kinds of trades. It is hard to overstate just how crucial it is for the future of the franchise that such trades work out in the best interests of the Pirates.

While Huntington's first amateur draft looks pretty good on paper, it is rare that any team, let alone the Pirates, can succeed solely by growing its own talent from within. Certainly the amateur draft and subsequent player development is the largest part of the success equation---no question there---but good teams still manage to turn their veterans into an additional source of young talent, more often than not.

All of which brings us to the million---or multi-million---dollar question: Did Huntington and the Pirates succeed with this trade? That is, did they successfully turn two established, better than average, young(er) veteran major leaguers into more than their number in promising young minor league talent?

The answer, alas, is "maybe".

What jumps out at you when you look at the players the Pirates received in this deal is the lack of a true Blue Chipper from the Yankees' minor league system. Outfielder Jose Tabata comes close to Blue Chip status, but he is not yet 20, was probably overpromoted to double-A Trenton this year, and is coming off a hamate injury, to boot.

He's also had, shall we say, behavior issues that have nothing to do with drugs but do have to do with his being difficult. Hopefully he's just young and doesn't know how to deal with the emotions coming from the first significant injury of his professional baseball career.

Anyway, Tabata is definitely still a very interesting player and probably the surest thing in this deal.

Along with him, the Bucs got three pitchers: righthanders Ross Ohlendorf and George Kontos and lefthander Phil Coke.

Ohlendorf, whom the Yankees got in the Randy Johnson trade a couple years ago, throws in the low 90s and has a good sinker. He's been in the bigs for parts of the past two seasons, but had recently gone back down to triple-A to be reconverted into a starting pitcher.

Kontos is 3-9 for double-A Trenton this season, but has a power arm and fairly promising peripheral statistics; he has defintely mowed them down over the past two seasons, averaging about 9 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Coke likewise misses a lot of bats and has better than average strikeout numbers. He was promoted to triple-A after a stellar half season at double-A, which makes us feel a little better about his being a 26 year old player who has yet to pitch in the big leagues. He's probably a throw-in in this trade, but ya never know with lefthanders, and in our organization he'll probably go straight to triple-A Indianapolis.

All in all, these 3 pitchers are not outstanding prospects, but we can confidently say that they are all interesting prospects. Unfortunately none of them carries the "can't miss" tag, which returns us to our original assessment: WAIT AND SEE.

Making a "wait and see" type of trade, rather than a veterans for a couple of can't miss prospects (such as the Brian Giles for Jason Bay and Oliver Perez deal) is a ballsy move by Neil Huntington. It's particularly courageous when one considers that this was his first big deal. That said, I can't help but think that if he had been able to acquire just one of the Yankees top pitching prospects---Ian Kennedy is the most likely---this trade would look much better, at least in the short term.

The most worrisome thing about this deal is that so much of it is, in fact, speculative. We've just made a big play in the futures market, without a lot of protection in the short term if the long term falls flat. It was definitely a calculated risk on Huntington's part, and it took a signficant amount of intestinal fortitude to pull the trigger.

There's reason for optimism with this trade, and it definitely proves that the team's front office is determined to rectify the failures of what has been an atrocious starting rotation this season.

Unfortunately there's also reason for concern. Whether Huntington hit the target with the full broadside remains to be seen, and it will likely be two or three years before we know for sure. Meanwhile, we must continue to do our best to see through the mists of battle and stay the course, full speed ahead.

(The GW's analyst Will Pellas gives us his take on the Yankee deal. And no, he's not on the block, so save your dime.)

They pull the trigger...

Fox Sports reports that the Bucs have sent Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Evil Empire for AAA RHP Ross Ohlendorf, Class AA LHP Phil Coke and RHP George Kontos and Class AA OF Jose Tabata, pending physicals and medical reports.

Pittsburgh was supposed to have their eye on Ohlendorf. The Yankees used him out of the pen this year. He pitched 40 innings with a 1-1 record and a 6.53 ERA before being sent back down. The 6'4", 25 year-old right-hander has a 93 to 96 mph sinking fastball, a slider and changeup.

After being demoted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he was converted back to a starter and went 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in four games. He pitched 16 2/3 innings and allowed 19 hits and four walks and struck out 20.

He was twice an all-star in the minors; the Bucs probably plan to turn him around. Ohlendorf could have a shot at the musical chairs that the rotation has become.

Coke, 26, was 9-4 with a 2.90 ERA as a starter at Trenton and had just been promoted to AAA. He throws his 4-seamer about 91-92 mph and has a strong sinker a few ticks slower, with an average change up and a curve that's improving.

Kontos, 23, may be the sleeper of the bunch. He throws a 93-95 MPH 4-seam fastball, but mostly uses a 2-seamer. His change-up, now more refined, is 78-80 MPH. His slider is his best pitch. It is devastating with a huge break that causes plenty of swings and misses. Kontos was 3-9 at Trenton, with a 3.77 ERA and a rep as a hard luck pitcher.

He was also arrested in Tampa last year when he refused to leave a bar at last call.

Tabata, 19, was hitting .248 at Trenton with 3 HR's, 36 RBI, 40 runs scored and 10 stolen sacks. He's pretty highly touted, in the Melky Cabrera mold. Tabata is supposed to have a rifle for an arm, though not that great a cover guy on the OF. The Venezuelan has been an OK RBI man, averaging a run driven in every 2 games, a good line considering he has shown so little power so far.

Tabata has been on the DL with a hamstring injury that has kept him out since July 1 and had a wrist (hamate) injury, ala Pedro Alvarez, earlier in the year. There's been some thought given about him shutting it down the remainder of this season.

Tabata's been suspended by the team for three days, too, and has a rep as a problem child. Some think he was rushed to AA and might have been better served at his age to play high A another season.

Still, as of January 2008, Tabata was ranked the Yankees 3rd best prospect by Baseball America behind Joba Chamberlain and Austin Jackson.

No sure shots here, but a lot of upside and probably what the organization needed to start bulking up. The jury is still out on the deal. The Yankees are happy they didn't part with any A-list arms, and the Pirates got a quick jolt of younger talent.

SI.com's Jon Heyman says of the deal:

Pittsburgh came down off its initial price tag an awful long way then. Tabata still has very exciting potential and is incredibly young, but his wrist problems are scary and he's looking like a headcase. Ohlendorf has never been a good bet to develop into anything more than a sixth- and seventh-inning guy. Pitcher Phil Coke is also believed to be in the deal, and he's a true long shot to help.

One thing that's obvious is they're looking down the road a couple of seasons for the guys they got to make their mark. Pittsburgh's a weaker team today than they were yesterday.

But youth needed to be served, especially on the mound. And maybe some competition will bring out the best in the current staff. Nothing focuses you like the risk of losing your job, hey?

Now does the housecleaning continue, or did the Pirates make their move?