Dian Toscano Finally in an Atlanta Braves Jersey?

The Cuban outfielder that the Atlanta Braves signed almost a year ago, Dian Toscano, has finally been cleared to play in the United States.

Toscano signed on the first day of the 2014 Winter Meetings back in December 2014.  Since then, Toscano has been caught in customs waiting for his paperwork to clear.  In May of 2015, the Atlanta Braves announced on their team site that he arrived in the states and would begin workouts in Florida.  Then, when papers finally clear, he would report to a minor league team.

For whatever reason, those papers were never cleared…until now!

Braves beat writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, David O’Brien, tweeted yesterday afternoon that Toscano was cleared to play in the United States.  He also mentioned that he may go play winter ball this season.  This is great to hear because we can analyze his statistics and hopefully as a ball player.

Toscano is a 26-year-old, 5-foot-11 200 pound outfielder who bats left-handed with good bat control and strike-zone awareness.  He has played all outfield positions (but primarily left field), played first base and DH for Cuba.  Reports indicate that his arm strength is limited, which makes it sound like it’s left field or nothing with the Atlanta Braves.

As Bowman indicated earlier this year, Toscano signed a $1.5 million for each of the four guaranteed years, plus the same for the 2019 option year.  Thus the total value of the contract could extend to $7.5 million.

This raises another eyebrow as it was just announced that the Braves will give Hector Olivera a shot at left field.  That move may have been a precaution if Toscano was never able to play in the States….or it’s a sign that they don’t see Toscano as an everyday left fielder.

Either way, we’ll see Toscano in a Braves uniform (winter league jersey for now)…whether it be in the minors or majors is yet to be determined.  If I had to guess as of November 6th, it will be in the minors at either Mississippi or Gwinnett.