Tony DeFazio
Bucs' Trigger Man

I have no idea whether Pirates' general manager Neal Huntington made a good trade last month when he shipped Xavier Nady, a run producing corner outfielder with a .330 average, and Damaso Marte, arguably the best left-handed bullpen specialist in the majors, to the Yankees for promising 19-year-old outfielder Jose Tabata and starting pitchers Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf.

It will take a year or two before any of us know.

But I do know Huntington made the right move.

Fans are understandably upset because this virtually guarantees the team's 16th consecutive losing season.

But since this new administration-GM Huntington, manager John Russell and president Frank Coonelly-took over at PNC Park, they have maintained that they have no interest in playing .500 baseball. None. Whatsoever.

"We have said from the beginning that we do not aspire to finish .500; we aspire instead to win championships again in Pittsburgh," Coonelly said the day the trade became official.

But what about the fans? Don't the Pirates owe their long-suffering, paying fans anything?

Absolutely. Management owes it to the fans to continually strive to put a good product on the field; the players owe it to the fans to play to the best of their ability.

Aside from the occasional Derek Bell, the latter has happened, even during this painful 15-year skid. The former? Not so much. But this trade is a good start.

The Pirates were not going to pick up the $6 million option on Marte's contract necessary to retain him.

Nady, a free agent in a year, is represented by agent Scott Boras. As such, he had a better chance of replacing Joe Paterno at Penn State than he did of re-signing with the Pirates.

Nady's trade value will never be higher. Ditto Marte.

And, frankly, if even one of the three starting pitchers acquired in the deal can get major league hitters out with any regularity, this team might even be better in the short run. Have you ever seen a team in more dire need of major league arms? All three are young and have, at the very least, reasonable shots to become decent major league starters. Based on what we've seen from the Pirates' starting rotation this season, that puts them ahead of the game.

Tabata appears to be a wildly talented headcase. One baseball executive called him a "mini-Manny Ramirez"-complete with the odd antics and "interesting" behavior.

That sounds to me like Chris Duffy - with talent. I'll take it.

As PSR beat writer Joe Giardina told me the morning of the deal, the four players acquired in this trade immediately become among the top 10 prospects in the Pirates' system. That may say more for the dilapidated shape of the Bucs' minor leagues than anything else, but it also screams out why this type of deal was necessary.

At the end of the day, the move is a good sign for the Pirates.

The team has leadership that actually talks about winning, rather than about how difficult it is to do so in this market.

The team's brass didn't appease the fans. The last time the Pirates made a baseball move strictly in the interest of the fans, Jason Kendall-a hard-working but slap-hitting singles hitter-wound up with a Babe Ruth-type contract.

That didn't work out so well.

And, most importantly, the team has a GM who is not afraid to pull the trigger on a trade, an asset Huntington's predecessor seemed to lack.

Huntington's job isn't easy. But he's not afraid to do it.