Pirates GM Neal Huntington said today that just about “everything” went into the thought process of demoting outfielder Jose Tabata who has been plagued all season by struggles at the plate and in the field, in addition to having a bad work ethic which has been most alarming about his downfall this season and has led to growing frustrations among management and manager Clint Hurdle.
“I would say that just about everything went into the thought process of whether to hold Jose Tabata or option him to 3A, ” Huntington told Inside Pittsburgh Sports.com on Tuesday afternoon.

“Ultimately we felt the best way to help Jose re-tap his quality potential was to option him to Indianapolis. We discussed with Jose what we expected from him and how we look forward to him bouncing back and helping our Major League team again this summer, ” Huntington said.
Huntington would not divulge on what specific things he told Jose he wants to see from him in Triple-A, saying he wanted to keep it in-house, but the first thing the Pirates are looking for from Tabata is for him to re-establish a Major League work ethic. “You can’t be a part time player [worth ethic] and make it in this game, ” a team executive said.