Jose Tabata Extension?

[Burgh Sports Rule]

Bucs Dugout is reporting, that the Pirates are close to signing Jose Tabata to a Multi Yr Extension.

I like this move, if it happens? I am surprised though, that Cutch was not done first.

I would have liked to have seen the Bucs get McCutchen done first.

I would like everybody's thoughts on this possible move by the Pirates.

Thanks.

 

[element1286]

Wished McCutchen would have signed an extension last offseason.

Rumors have it as 6 years, 30(ish) million with options (reports are that it is three club options). If there are three club options, it seems like a good deal for the Pirates. And hopefully proves to Cutch that they are willing to commit to the long term.

 

[TheBurgh88]

Not a fan of this news at all. I would rather see him return from injury and prove himself a bit more. I guess the $$$$ involved may influence my opinion but it seems like a rather odd time to extend this guy just returning from the DL. Six years seems like an awful long time to commit money to such an unproven commodity.

 

[Blitzville]

Not a fan of this news at all. I would rather see him return from injury and prove himself a bit more. I guess the $$$$ involved may influence my opinion but it seems like a rather odd time to extend this guy just returning from the DL. Six years seems like an awful long time to commit money to such an unproven commodity.

He's not good enough (yet) to warrant a multi-year extension unless of course it's a pre-requisite for a possible trade like they did with McLouth. Cutch on the other hand is a different story.

 

[Burgh Sports Rule]

This is obviously a Buy Low move by the Pirates & this move could work out for them in the long run, on a couple of fronts.

1 As Element said,it could show Cutch, that they are locking up the young players & are committed to the future.

2 As I said, the Pirates are buying low here & if they are right, they could be locking up a player, who they consider an emerging young OF at what could be a bargain rate for them, if they are right?

3 This gives them Cost Certainty for the future on one of there young players as well.

I like the idea of doing this, but as others have said, I am surprised by the timing of this?

It may be, that Tabata is the most willing to sign right now of our young group?

I like it but I would have liked to have seen the Pirates get McCutchen or even Neil Walker done first.

 

[element1286]

If the report on the option years are true, then it makes sense to do this deal whenever, since it will be easy to get away from.

I don't see this as being any indication of an impending trade, the McLouth deal wasn't either, it just happened to end up that way.

 

[thecrow124]

I have no idea how anyone thinks this could be a bad deal. His WAR value this year is projected to be 1.1. If you consider the price of a 1 WAR player to be $5 million this deal is a no brained for both side as Tabata will still not be 30 at the end of the deal.
I don't figure McCutchen will sign an extention with us so now we can look to sign Walker and hope that he gives us a hometown discount.

 

[Burgh Sports Rule]

The Pirates Beat Writer for the Trib, Rob Biertempfel, is now reporting that Tabata has agreed to the 6yr contract extension. The deal could be announced as early as Saturday by the Pirates, according to the Trib.

Also, Element was correct in that there are 3 Team Option yrs in the deal, according to Bertempfel.

Also, the Trib is reporting in the same article, that the Pirates are "Deep" into talks with Neil Walker about an extension for him, that is similar to Tabata's deal.

The talks are said to be progressing well with Walker & while a deal is not yet "Immenent"

Walker's extension is expected to get done soon as well.

Good news, I think, all around.

Thoughts Everyone.

 

[element1286]

The Pirates Beat Writer for the Trib, Rob Biertempfel, is now reporting that Tabata has agreed to the 6yr contract extension. The deal could be announced as early as Saturday by the Pirates, according to the Trib.

Also, Element was correct in that there are 3 Team Option yrs in the deal, according to Bertempfel.

Also, the Trib is reporting in the same article, that the Pirates are "Deep" into talks with Neil Walker about an extension for him, that is similar to Tabata's deal.

The talks are said to be progressing well with Walker & while a deal is not yet "Immenent"

Walker's extension is expected to get done soon as well.

Good news, I think, all around.

Thoughts Everyone.

Awesome, glad to hear it about Tabata and possibly Walker. The three option years are great for the Pirates. And the guaranteed money is great for Tabata.

 

[Burgh Sports Rule]

Awesome, glad to hear it about Tabata and possibly Walker. The three option years are great for the Pirates. And the guaranteed money is great for Tabata.

Yes element, this is good news & these signings again, show that the Pirates are serious about trying to improve this ball club.

Hey, with the extension of Tabata & now possibly Walker too, maybe Bud will get off the Bucs back? LOL!

 

[Illinest]

"Tabata would receive a $1MM signing bonus, and his salary in 2011 would increase to $500K. He would then earn $750K in 2012, $1MM in 2013, $3MM in 2014, $4MM in 2015, and $4.5MM in 2016. The three option years would potentially be worth another $22.5MM combined."

The option years are said to be performance triggered, but then they're also said to have a 250k per year buyout that the Bucs can exercise.

My take is - if Tabata is the age he's always said he is then he just let himself get bent over pretty hard. There's nothing in this contract that the Pirates haven't been willing to waste on guys like Overbay and if Tabata actually develops further then he could be underpaid significantly.
On the other hand I don't think Tabata is the age he said he is. I think Tabata is more like 26 and he signed this contract realizing that it would be his last before his skills start to deteriorate. In that case then the Pirates could end up paying too much for him in the last couple years and giving him an extra 750k in the buyout.

Rumor has it that the agent didn't like the contract. I think Tabata put himself in a situation with his age shenanigans and realized that he needs to make the most out of it while he still can.

 

[thecrow124]

I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. I think Jose just loves the game and loves playing in Pittsburgh and oddly enough if the team picks up all 3 option years (which I would do today if I were the Pirates) he will still only be 29 and still have another 9 or 10 years contract he could get.

 

[magnumo]

A few additional thoughts:

- It has been reported that Tabata has parted ways with his agent over his signing this contract. That suggests that the agent was not happy with the contract.

- It also has been reported that McCutchen's agent has been playing hard-ball..... and that perhaps the Pirates are dealing with Tabata and Walker because those two are less demanding.

- Perhaps Tabata's idolization of Clemente is important enough to him such that he's more amenable to a team-friendly deal..... and perhaps Walker is willing to give the team a home-town discount. Neither of those factors are in play with McCutchen.

It appears that the team is trying to do what it can, in the order it finds possible.

 

[Illinest]

I'm not a 'conspiracy theorist' just because I agree with everyone else who saw him in person and realized that he couldn't possibly be as young as he said he was. Tabata will be 30 by the time his six years are done. If he's playing at a high enough level to make his option years worth exercising then I will consider us fortunate.

 

[element1286]

I'm not a 'conspiracy theorist' just because I agree with everyone else who saw him in person and realized that he couldn't possibly be as young as he said he was. Tabata will be 30 by the time his six years are done. If he's playing at a high enough level to make his option years worth exercising then I will consider us fortunate.

So you are telling us you know he isn't 22, because you saw his face, and he looks older?

 

[Illinest]

No that's not what I'm telling you. Don't play dense. You've heard the same things that I have. My eyes count as just another mark against him.
You've got no reason to disregard the reports about his age. I think you disregard it because you hope it's not true. Poor reason to disregard it in my opinion.
I give it credence because he's the only LA prospect in the system who has been dogged by these rumors. We're obviously not in the habit of accusing every LA prospect of lying about his age. Only this one.
So maybe there's a conspiracy against Jose Tabata. Can't figure out any reason why that would be, but maybe.
Of course I know why Tabata might lie about his age, but let's just go with the conspiracy against him.

 

[element1286]

It's hearsay, I haven't heard anyone say anything about it in over a year. You're taking it a step further and assuming he signed an extension because he knows he lied about his age, and needs to cash in now. That's quite a leap of faith even if you don't believe he isn't 22.

 

[thecrow124]

No that's not what I'm telling you. Don't play dense. You've heard the same things that I have. My eyes count as just another mark against him.
You've got no reason to disregard the reports about his age. I think you disregard it because you hope it's not true. Poor reason to disregard it in my opinion.
I give it credence because he's the only LA prospect in the system who has been dogged by these rumors. We're obviously not in the habit of accusing every LA prospect of lying about his age. Only this one.
So maybe there's a conspiracy against Jose Tabata. Can't figure out any reason why that would be, but maybe.
Of course I know why Tabata might lie about his age, but let's just go with the conspiracy against him.

Um......Jose Tabata came over from the Yankees system not LA. Just saying.

 

[Illinest]

Like I said - when I start hearing hearsay about all the other LA prospects then maybe I'll entertain the possibility that there's something else going on.
I'm being consistent. He lied about his age because it benefits him. He signed a contract like this because it benefits him.

Otherwise I'm expected to believe that he signed a contract that's so bad his agent split with him because - what? Because he's the only guy on the planet who doesn't care if he misses out on millions of dollars?
Did we forget about his fake marriage? Yeah he's a real boyscout.

 

[Illinest]

Um......Jose Tabata came over from the Yankees system not LA. Just saying.

Latin America.