Saturday Thoughts

Pirates and Yankees Make a Trade

By now most of you have heard that the Yankees and Pirates made a trade that will bring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to New York and send Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata, Phil Coke, and George Kontos to Pittsburgh. Personally, I think this is a fantastic trade. A lefty reliever like Marte is hard to come by, and we weren't going to use Christian and Gardner as our left fielders for the rest of the season. Nady isn't the most powerful bat in the lineup, but he's a professional hitter and you can expect him to have some pop. He's having one of his better seasons right now as he's batting .330 and has 13 homeruns. If he keeps that up, he'll be just fine replacing Matsui. Marte has 47 strikeouts to 16 walks, which speaks well of his control, and his 3.47 ERA is not bad for a reliever. I always wonder how relievers will do coming from the National League, but I think this kid will be fine.

It was interesting that we gave up Tabata a once well recognized prospect in our system. This season he's had a lot disciplinary problems and I'm sure the Yankees weren't too upset about losing him. Ohlendorf was sent down to Scranton and they used him as a starter. He was doing pretty good at it too. Kontos and Coke I know less about, though Coke was also starting to hit his stride as a starter. The fact is, Cashman got us two major league ready players for some talented guys who may or may not make it to the bigs. It was a good trade.

Youkilis and Chamberlain

So Chamberlain threw a ball over Youkilis' head again, and every time it happens it seems less like a mistake. It would seem unlikely that he would try to plate the lead off batter in the 7th of a 1-0 game, but I don't really buy that it just got away from him. In fairness to Joba, Youkilis' face looks like an alien is eating his face, and if you listen closely, you'll hear Joba yelling "Youk! It's on your face again!" before throwing the ball. I think he was just trying to knock the alien off and save his good friend Youk, only to remember that Youk just looks like an alien's trying to eat his face, not that an alien is actually eating his face. Easy mistake to make.

Sweet Dreams

I had a dream a week or so ago that Russell "Stringer" Bell from the HBO show The Wire, was pitching for the Yankees against the Red Sox. Dustin Pedroia was up to bat, and Stringer hit him on his leg. Pedroia rushed the mound only to have Stringer put him in a head lock, walk him over to second base, and then land a powerful right to knock him onto the ground. It was kind of strange, but oddly funny.