Top NYY Could-Have-Beens: José Tábata

01/22/2025 12:00 PM

The former top prospect never made it to the Bronx, and fizzled out of the majors after a few years.

Despite an unceremonious MLB career, José Tábata at least has the pleasure of being one of the few almost solely remembered for the use of a rather lengthy elbow guard. The outfielder was one of the Yankees' more prized prospects in the mid-to-late aughts, but he never broke into the bigs with New York, or made much of an impact elsewhere after his departure.

Years in Yankees Organization: 2004-08

How They Left: Traded to the Pirates in July 2008

Career MLB Statistics: 509 G, .275/.336/.377, 17 HR, 126 RBI, .713 OPS, 99 OPS+, 2.2 fWAR, 1.9 rWAR (never played with the Yankees)

José Nicolas Tábata was born on August 12, 1988 in El Tigre Venezuela. On the day of his 16th birthday, he signed with the Yankees, and quickly garnered some attention in the lower levels of their system. He debuted in professional ball at just 17 with the Yanks' Gulf Coast League in 2005. He impressed, hitting .314 and swiping 22 bags that season, enough to earn himself a spot on the league's All-Star team.

The very next season, his impressive debut was enough to shoot him up the Yankees' prospect rankings, sitting at number three in the organization headed into 2006. In 86 games that year in A-ball, Tábata was solid once again, slashing .298/.377/.420. He also earned a spot in the '06 All-Star Futures game, where he registered a knock off of fellow up-and-comer Phil Hughes in the exhibition. It was an overall performance that would rank him as the Yankees' second ranked prospect, and 27th across baseball headed into his age-18 season in '07.

Tabata performed similarly in 2007 with the Yankees' at High-A, though the young right-hander battled some injuries in '08 while with Double-A Trenton.

Concerningly for the Yankees' coaches, Tabata became more of a headache and got benched multiple times for discipline. There was one incident in April where he struck out to bring his average under .200 and simply left the ballpark midgame, leading to a three-game suspension.

Perhaps due in part to these issues, Tabata's time in the Yankees organization would come to an end that season, as they shipped their (at the time) third-ranked prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, the Yankees received oft-injured Dámaso Marte (who at least became a 2009 playoff weapon out of the 'pen), and Xavier Nady, who had put together a solid 2007 season and, between Pittsburgh and New York, and did much the same in a 25-homer '08 before ceding his job to Nick Swisher in early '09 due to elbow surgery.

Tábata put together another solid effort in the minors between Double and Triple-A in 2009, where he managed a 113 wRC+ in his 93 games. That year, he was also tangentially involved in a scandal, in which his wife was arrested for kidnapping a child that she claimed to Tábata was hers.

In 2010, he finally received the call to the majors, on June 9th, at 21 years old, when he registered a pair of hits and a stolen base. He remained with the big club for a significant portion of that season, ultimately appearing in 102 respectable games. He slashed .299/.346/.400. with a 106 wRC+ and 1.7 fWAR — a very solid debut in the major leagues.

Tábata continued to battle injuries in 2011, but put up similar production in his 91 games that season. It was enough for the Pirates to sign him through his arbitration years, with a six-year, $14.5 million extension. Unfortunately for him and the Buccos, it would rather quickly look to be an unwarranted deal.

In 2012 and '13 he played in 103 and 106 games, respectively, with the latter being much more successful. In 2013, he boasted career bests in the power department with six homers while slugging .429, all culminating in a very solid 119 wRC+.

It was a big year for the Bucs, who snapped a 21-year playoff drought with a Wild Card berth, though Tabata went hitless in limited action that postseason as Pittsburgh fell to St. Louis in the NLDS. Sadly for Tábata, that 2013 campaign would stand as the most significant of his short career.

Relegated to a backup role from that point, Tábata only played in 80 games in 2014, once again bouncing between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis. He had still failed to hit for much power, and his base-stealing prowess seemed to have almost completely disappeared. In 2015, his playing time situation grew even more grim, in a season where he appeared in just 27 major-league games. That season would, however, contain perhaps his most memorable moment as a big leaguer, in what could be called unusual fashion.

On June 20, 2015, the Pirates were taking on the Nationals in Washington. Max Scherzer took the bump for the Nats, and subsequently retired the first 26 batters he faced, striking out 10 of them. With two outs in the ninth inning, and of course with Scherzer an out away from a perfect game, José Tábata pinch hit for Pittsburgh. Mad Max got him into a 2-2 count before a not-so-wild breaking ball in off the plate caught Tábata's elbow guard. Intent can be hard to gauge in fractions of a second, but there is certainly an argument to him leaning a bit into the pitch, and putting a stop to Scherzer's bid for perfection.

Although Scherzer retired the next batter and secured a no-hitter, the legacy of a perfect game would evade him as a result of Tábata's stray elbow.

That would be the last moment of note for José Tábata as a Pirate—and, as it would stand, as a major-league player. He played in his final big-league game just five days later, and was eventually designated for assignment on June 29th. He was traded to the Dodgers a few days later in exchange for an aged Mike Morse, but he would never return to Major League Baseball.

Tábata wouldn't play in any affiliated ball after a brief stint in 2016, though he did bounce around in various independent and foreign leagues until 2022, when he was 33 years old.

Once ranking as a top-30 prospect in all of baseball, and among the very best in the Yankees' system, injuries and underwhelming performance barred José Tábata from a career of significance as a major leaguer. He never made it to The Show with New York, and his time in Pittsburgh was short and nothing to write home about, and ultimately remembered by a fluke moment in another player's story. He showed flashes of potential in the minors and at times on the big stage, but in the end cemented himself firmly on this list of could-have-beens.big

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