Report: Braves Enter the Fray for Yasmany Tomas

First Jon Lester.  Now this, from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman:

"The Atlanta Braves have entered the Yasmany Tomas sweepstakes as a dark horse.The Braves are slated to watch Tomas and his exploits in coming days, according to sources.They join a big field eyeing the free-agent Cuban slugger. The Phillies, Padres and Giants have been seen as the most aggressive pursuers of the outfielder/third baseman, but there’s been a lot of talk about a mystery team winning his services in recent days."

Remind me – which Cuban player is this?

Admittedly, it’s to the point where we need a program to keep them straight.  The key phrase here is “Corner Outfield Power Bat”.

Tomas is now 24 years old and not subject to International player signing restrictions – one of the few remaining desirable players in that category.  Consequently, the only penalty for signing him to a contract involves the risk and the cash.  BaseballAmerica has been all over him, calling him one of the “top 10… left in Cuba in terms of major league potential” and one of the top “half-dozen” who are unfettered by signing limitations.

In terms of ability, Tomas rates at “70” raw power (Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Bautista would be at the maximum “80”; Joey Votto and Edwin Encarnacion rate a “70”).  He is listed at 6’1″ and 230 pounds, though some photos I’ve seen suggest that he might be pushing that higher (time frame unknown) – perhaps 240-250.  Tomas’ speed is adequate, though below average, so that restricts his future to a corner outfield spot.  BA suggests that starting directly in the majors would not be out of the question, though a bit of AAA wouldn’t hurt.

Are there concerns?  Yes – and I’ll let BA explain…

“Tomas did show some swing-and-miss tendencies at the [World Baseball Classic] with an uppercut stroke and trouble handling good breaking pitches. Three months after the WBC, when Cuba took a team to the U.S. last summer to face the college national team, the U.S. power arms were able to exploit some of those holes by beating him with good velocity up and in and getting him to swing through soft stuff in and out of the zone.”

This gives me pause, though there is video of a monster home run he hit versus Japan in the WBC at the link above.  But I am concerned about bringing in another strikeout-prone hitter… though players such as Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Yasiel Puig have seemed to be worth tolerating bumps in the road such as that.

Okay… so how much?

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Supposedly, Tomas is looking at something north of the current Cuban expatriate record:  $72.5 million (Red Sox,

).  For what it’s worth, in our FanSided Faux Winter Meetings simulation our San Diego Padres representatives just faux-inked Tomas to a 7 year, $105 million deal.  That could represent a “ceiling” number, in my thinking.  Some have suggested numbers as high as the $80-90 million range.

Are we serious about this?  There would be little point to having Tomas in for a workout unless there was some level of “serious interest”, so… yes.  The degree of that interest will (of course) be directly dependent on what the scouts see at this workout.  If he is overweight and out of shape (a possibility), then that would be a serious problem.  But other than a recent Phillies report (which suggested they might be concerned about him defensively), there have been more teams getting in than getting out of the running for Tomas’ services.

Competition

There is plenty – as you would expect, given (a) the success enjoyed by recent Cuban signees, and (b) the scarce supply of additional players – never mind those without any attached signing penalties (unlike Yoan Moncada).

The Padres are involved, the Giants, the Phillies (though a late report suggests their interests may have “cooled”), and likely others to one degree or another.  Bidding will be spirited.

But Should The Braves Do This?

In short – no.

I have three reasons:

• High strikeout potential… again
• Defensive potential seems limited.  We already have two – at least – poor defenders in the outfield.  Wanna make it a trio?
• We already have a major-league power-hitting outfielder – maybe two of them, depending on how you view Evan Gattis.  One of these is 27 years old and is making nearly the same money that Tomas would command.  Okay, yes – his contract is done at the end of the year… but he is also a known quantity.  Tomas is still a prospect – albeit a very good one – and therefore risky.

While I would personally prefer Moncada (he’s better), I could see making a run at Tomas since – unlike Moncada – his signing would not stop International Signings for 2 years.  That cannot be overlooked, for the signing slots acquired from the Cubs on Sunday could bring multiple higher-level prospects in the future.

At this point, I think we still have to mark their interest level down as “seriously inquiring”… more than mere ‘due diligence’, but also not nearly “all in”, either.  But John Hart obviously has a lot of “irons in the fire” – we’ll have to wait to see which ones get pulled out and molded into something useful in the next month or so.

Unlike the pursuit of Jon Lester – this move would address offensive needs.  Obviously.