Jose Tabata

Jose Tabata (born August 12, 1988 in Anzoategui, Venezuela) is a Minor League Baseball outfielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He was an international signee by the New York Yankees in by|2005 and became the Yankees' No. 2 prospect, by by|2008.

At the age of 17 and in his first year of professional ball, Tabata led the entire Yankees farm system in batting average when he hit .314 for the Gulf Coast Yankees in 2005. In by|2006, he batted .298 for the Low A Charleston RiverDogs.

In 2006, Tabata was selected to participate in the XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game as a member of the World Team, which consisted of 25 highly touted prospects from across the globe. In the game, which was part of the festivities for the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tabata played center field while going 1-for-3 with a single off fellow Yankees prospect Phil Hughes.

In by|2007, he played for the Single-A Tampa Yankees.

On July 26, by|2008, Tabata was acquired by the Pirates with Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Dan McCutchen from the Yankees for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/07/25/pirates.yanks.trade/index.html|title=Yanks acquire Nady, Marte from Bucs for 4 minor league prospects|date=2008-07-26|publisher=SI.com|accessdate=2008-07-26] He is currently assigned to the Double-A Altoona Curve and made his first home start with the team on August 19, 2008. In his first 9 games with the Curve, Tabata went 14 for 39 (.359). [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/sports/s_583873.html]

References

External links

* [http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=467798 Minor League Splits and Situational Stats]
* [http://www.yankeesprospects.com/player.php?id=178&pos=200 yankeesprospects.com]
* [http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060709&content_id=1549242&vkey=allstar2006&fext=.jsp MLB.com: Early Outburst Lifts U.S. Past World]
* [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060301&content_id=1329190&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb MLB.com: Yankees' Farm More Fertile For 2006]