 In 1997, Tatum signed with the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and appeared in 51 games, hitting .309 with 13 home runs and 25 RBI.He returned to MLB in 1998, playing in 35 games for the New York Mets.After spending the 1999 season with the Rockies organization, Tatum played in the minors for the San Francisco Giants in 2000, before joining the LG Twins of the KBO League for 20 games.