Tabata impresses

by Travis G on Mar 18, 2009 5:25 PM EDT in New York Yankees Analysis

Jose Tabata, the high-ceiling outfielder the Yankees sent to Pittsburgh in the Damaso Marte/Xavier Nady deal last July, went 2-4 including the only hit against CC Sabathia last night.

I didn't like the deal much when it happened, and even less now. In fact, the Yankees still think highly of their former prospects.

They gave up on Tabata when he was at his lowest, but there was nothing wrong with giving up on the other three; Karstens, McCutchen and Ohlendorf are all too old for top prospects (25+), and none has a particularly high ceiling. At best, they'll be back end starters. Plus there's the fact that the Yankees have many better prospects that would have surpassed them in short time. Aceves, Coke, Kennedy and Melancon would be ahead of them, with Zach McAllister, Andrew Brackman and others coming up right behind.

Marte is a nice lefty specialist, and Nady is a nice outfielder. Both disappointed after joining the Bombers. Marte had a 5.40 ERA and lost three games despite throwing just 18.1 innings. Nady had a decent 59 games with the Yanks, hitting .268/.320/.474 (for a 105 OPS+).

Cashman was certainly not expecting that kind of letdown. Nady was in the midst of a career year while Marte was having a solid season.

On the flip side, 19-year-old Jose Tabata was at the nadir of his young career, hitting .248/.320/.310 with the Double-A Trenton Thunder. He went on a tear after joining the Pirates organization, crushing the ball to a .348/.402/.562 clip (in an admittedly small sample of 22 games). He showed that promise last night, getting two hits (one off a changeup, the other off a curve). However... he also showed those traits that caused the Yankees to lose faith in him: he looked totally lost in rightfield, seemed to lose focus at points (giving up ABs), and still hasn't shown much power despite making consistent, solid contact. For example, Jesus Montero has one fewer homerun (20) in his pro career than Tabata does, despite playing in half as many games. (He also had multiple wrist injuries.)

Anyway, the 'winner' of the trade will be decided by the future of Tabata.

(h/t to BBTF)

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To be fair.....

Marte did a decent job outside of one really bad outing against Texas when he was forced to throw about 40 pitches (something he was unaccustomed to doing) and surrendered 4 ER in 1.1 IP. Remove that one outing and his numbers appear much more respectable (17.0 IP, 3.71 ERA, 1.12 WHIP).

Also, and this is important to emphasize, the Yanks didn’t have a lefty in the pen before the deal and Coke was not really on the radar at that time. Coke was a 26 year old starter that had never thrown a single pitch above Double-A until last August.

Remember, Coke was originally supposed to be part of this deal and the Yanks changed their mind.

So Coke was then moved to the pen and his velocity went up a few ticks and his slider had significantly more bite. Things just clicked for him last year after years of underachieving.

As far as Tabata is concerned, I do think there is a such thing as a player who needs a change of scenery. That may or may not have been the case with Tabata. He’s certainly talented but he became a major head case and had several off the field issues.

We’ll never know for sure, but it is possible that he would have never reached his potential with the Yanks. Sometimes it really takes a kick in the ass before players get their act together.

I liked Tabata as well and I didn’t like losing him, but this trade filled a couple of real needs for this team at the time it occurred.

FWIW, Tabata was just sent to Altoona (Double-A) by the Pirates yesterday to start the season.

by anaconda on Mar 19, 2009 5:47 AM EDT reply actions

actually, iirc

it was Pitt who decided against Coke. They had a choice of 2 of 4 of the following: Karstens, McCutchen, Coke and someone else who i forget.

that’s a fair point about Marte, but Cash made the deal hoping it would vault the Yanks into the playoffs. since that didnt happen, there’s already one strike against the trade.

by Travis G on Mar 19, 2009 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Re:

I think Joba missing a month and Pettitte’s shoulder issue might’ve had something to do with that.

Can’t anticipate injuries.

by anaconda on Mar 19, 2009 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions

The last guy was Kontos.

He was sort of piddling along in AA until he thought he was traded. He then went on a tear for his last few starts until the end of the season. It’s weird, the Pirates initially chose the two higher ceiling, but more raw guys in coke and kontos but then made up some BS about coke failing a physical and opted for the two more polished but not as good guys in Karstens and McCutchen.

Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.

by CasanovaWong on Mar 19, 2009 5:10 PM EDT reply actions