Tabata needed to have a good year- Austin Jackson has past him on most depth charts, primarily because the 19 year old right fielder was recovering from wrist surgery. Still ridiculously young for AA, a good year would have cemented Tabata's top prospect status, while a bad year would raise the specter of Eric Duncan once again.
Well, it's not been a good year.
"We had an in-house issue we needed to deal with. Don't ask me what it is because I'm not telling you,'' a visibly irritated Franklin said. "We're very pleased with the way he is playing. He is playing hard. But there are certain standards that need to be met within this organization and with this team, and when those standards are not met we take action.
He might be playing hard, but 187 ABs into the season he's sporting a .235/.315/.283 line, 17BB against 33K. Something's going wrong on the mental side of the game, and he's carrying it onto the physical.
When Tabata got in trouble last time (for walking out of the clubhouse), he claimed the pressure was getting to him.
Arod clearly needs to lend the guy a couple of his shrinks.