Sports

Pirates & Yankees Finalize Trade

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) ― Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte are on their way to join the New York Yankees after the team finalized a six-player trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

In a press release, Pirates general manager, Neal Huntington said, "It was not easy for us to part with Nady and Marte because both players are outstanding individuals and were important parts of what has become a very close knit Pirate team. Both players' value was higher today than it was during the off-season which allowed us to secure four young players we believe will help us achieve our goal of becoming a championship caliber organization again."

The Yankees are sending top outfield prospect Jose Tabata, and minor league right-handers Dan McCutchen, Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf to Pittsburgh.

Huntington added, "The Pirates are excited to add four quality players to our system. With Karstens, McCutchen and Olendorf, we were able to add three quality starting pitchers to our system. With Tabata, we added a talented young outfield prospect who has all of the tools to become a member of what we believe will be an athletic and productive outfield."

The teams agreed to a deal on Friday, pending physicals for the players involved. It was thought New York's package would include minor league pitchers Phil Coke and George Kontos rather than McCutchen and Karstens.

But when the Pirates made their final selections Saturday from a list of players the Yankees offered, Pittsburgh chose a group that included McCutchen and Karstens, according to a person familiar with the trade who spoke on condition of anonymity because those details of the talks were not disclosed.

Early Saturday afternoon, the Yankees confirmed the trade was completed.

Nady and Marte were on their way to Boston and the team hoped they would arrive in time to be available for a 3:55 p.m. EDT game against the Red Sox.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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