Damaso Marte Not Coming Back

In a story almost as shocking as yesterday's one about Soriano choosing to come back for 2012, the Yankees announced yesterday that they would NOT be picking up Damaso Marte's $4 million option for next season.

He was lights out for the Yankees in the 2009 postseason, but other than that there was really nothing about Marte's time with the Yankees to speak of.  He was often injured, and when he was healthy he wasn't particularly effective.  And with the declining of his option becoming official yesterday, we can finally go back and close the book on that fateful 2008 trade that brought him and Xavier Nady to the Bronx.  And it ain't pretty.

Nady has bounced from the Yankees to the Cubs in 2010 and the Diamondbacks this past year, putting up below average numbers in both spots.  He still can't say healthy (like Marte) and at 32, turning 33 next month, his window to live up to the promise he showed in the mid-2000s is all but closed.  Meanwhile, the Pirates have benefited from the bounty of players they received from the Yankees in the trade.  Jose Tabata is starting to show some of the skills that made him a top prospect and is the team's everyday LF, Jeff Karstens put up a respectable 3.38/4.29/.400 line in 162.1 innings as a starter this year, Daniel McCutchen is one of their most used relievers, and Ross Ohlendorf has shown the ability to be effective when healthy.

I'd say Cash probably wishes he could use a do-over on that one.  Probably not something he wants to mention during his contract negotiation talks.  Between Marte and the Pedro Feliciano disaster of this past season, let's all hope that the Yankees have finally learned their lesson about relievers, specifically lefties.