The Pittsburgh Pirates are nearing a six-year deal with outfielder Jose Tabata, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes:
Jose Tabata, Pittsburgh Pirates Agree To Six-Year Extension
The Pittsburgh Pirates are nearing a six-year deal with outfielder Jose Tabata
Venezolano José Tabata y #Pirates cerca de acuerdo millonario por seis años, dijo una fuente a ESPNdeportes.com.Which, if you use Google Translate to translate that from Spanish to Arabic to Basque to English, becomes ...
The source said the agreement with Venezuela’s Jose Tabata and # Millionaire pirates near the age of sixThis, of course, is a stunning development.
Tabata is a career .285/.348/.385 hitter over parts of two seasons, but he’s only 22 years old, an age when a lot of players are just getting started in A-ball. As this is Tabata’s first full season in the majors, he had five seasons left before free agency. The deal will give Tabata more guaranteed money before he hits arbitration in exchange for buying out a year of his free agency.
The Pirates will still get some flexibility in the deal, as according to MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes, the deal includes three team options, and according to Dejan Kovacevic, the three option years are after the initial six-year deal.
Tabata might not ever develop enough power to be a star, but unless he proves to be especially injury prone, he’s already proven that he’s a major-league caliber player at a young age. Locking him up is a medium-risk/high-medium reward proposition for the Pirates.
The risk is that he might not be a player who is good enough to tender a contract to over the next five years, yet now the Pirates are obligated to pay him. That’s a legitimate risk, but if he turns out to be a good player, the Pirates have him locked up until he’s 30.
Critics of the deal will note that Tabata doesn’t have any power, and isn’t especially likely to develop power, while the Pirates have several fast/interesting (yet limited-power) types already in the system.
Update: Rojas has the details of the contract:
Tabata’s new deal with the Pirates is guaranteed through the 2016 season and includes a restructuring of his contract for 2011. The team has options for 2017, 2018 and 2019 for a total of $37.25 million.His salary increases to $500,000 this season, along with a $1 million signing bonus in 2011. Tabata will make $750,000 in 2012, $1 million in 2013, $3 million in 2014, $4 million in 2015 and $4.5 million in 2016.
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