Rob Biertempfel tweets this morning that the Pittsburgh Pirates have been shopping outfielder Jose Tabata.
#Pirates shopping RF Jose Tabata. Will be interesting to see if there are any takers with three years, $12.25M left on contract.
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) March 18, 2014
As Biertempfel points out, a trade might be difficult, since Tabata is set to make $12.25 M over the next three seasons. He will make $3 M this year, $4 M in 2015, $4.5 M in 2016, and has three option years beyond that with a total of $750,000 in buyouts ($250,000 per year).
Last year Tabata had a 1.1 WAR, which is worth at least $5.5 M on the open market. So his contract isn’t that bad if he can repeat that success. That 1.1 WAR would be worth $16.5 M over three years on the open market. If that WAR represents his value, then he’d be worth about $4-5 M, which is a Grade B hitter or two Grade C pitching prospects. The downside to this is that other teams might be willing to try their own internal options, hoping for a one win player at a cheaper salary.
For Tabata to have value, you’d have to find a team that either has poor internal options, or a team that thinks he can improve his game going forward, making him more of a value.
Biertempfel also says that the Pirates are willing to listen on Travis Snider, and that Vin Mazzaro could be the odd man out in the bullpen.
I've also heard Travis Snider could be available. #Pirates front office still likes Snider, but Polanco was very impressive this spring.
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) March 18, 2014
It's looking like RHP Vin Mazzaro (out of options) will be odd man out of bullpen, so #Pirates are willing to listen to offers.
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) March 18, 2014
The Pirates are high on Snider, even though he’s done less than Tabata at the Major League level. Snider was horrible last year, but it looks like he has the inside track to get the bulk of the starting right field work until Gregory Polanco arrives. Some of his struggles last year could be due to an injured toe, which it seems the Pirates are banking on. This is another situation where Snider would have value if another team still thinks he has potential to turn things around and realize his upside. However, the Pirates appear to have that line of thinking already.
As for Mazzaro, I wrote the other day that a trade seems likely out of the bullpen, since there are eight players for seven spots. I also wrote that Mazzaro makes the most sense. Stolmy Pimentel and Bryan Morris have a lot of upside, and unlike Mazzaro, they’re still in their league minimum years with more team control. Jeanmar Gomez would be the other big candidate to go, but he seems to have the edge over Mazzaro, since he has had success as a starter for the Pirates. Mazzaro is a good reliever, so he should be easier to trade and get a good return, compared to Tabata and Snider.
Overall the Pirates could keep Tabata and Snider, so a trade isn’t necessary there. However, unless an injury occurs, they’ll need to make a trade out of the bullpen.
