Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas will celebrate his 24th birthday on Friday, and it will surely be a happy one given the lucrative contract on the horizon. Yesterday, agent Jay Alou explained the Phillies’ standing in the Tomas derby, telling reporters including Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com, “There are several teams that I could say are frontrunners, but yes (the Phillies are one of them).” Surprisingly, the Phillies have yet to make a formal offer, but Alou says, “It will all get going soon.”
Today’s Tomas rumors…
- Tomas is drawing interest from the Orioles, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal also notes on Twitter that the chase for Tomas is still heating up, with two teams set to visit him in the Dominican next week and others still weighing pursuit.
Earlier Updates
- The Royals have entered the Tomas sweepstakes, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Royals don’t feel that Tomas has the same type of advanced hitting skills that countryman Jose Abreu brought to the division-rival White Sox, but they have a need for a right fielder and feel his defense is at least adequate. The Royals like Melky Cabrera as well but Tomas would allow them to preserve their first-round pick, whereas Cabrera received and rejected a qualifying offer from Toronto.
- The Phillies, Padres and Giants have each seen Tomas three times, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. He also reports that agent Jay Alou rejected an eight-year offer (though he doesn’t specify the value), preferring a five to seven year term to get Tomas onto the open market again around his age-30 season. The Mariners also like Tomas but aren’t expected to outbid other clubs, according to Heyman.
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the Rangers aren’t likely to sign Tomas. Starting pitching is said to be the team’s top priority, and sources tell Wilson that the Rangers have informed Alou that their resources will be dedicated to that goal.
- How about the $100MM figure that has been bandied about for Tomas? “I don’t know where that came from, but he’d be happy and I’d be happy,” says Alou. In my September profile of Tomas, I posited a seven-year, $105MM contract. More recently, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports went with eight years and $100MM, an agent who spoke to Heyman said seven years and $93MM, and a GM said eight years, $100MM. Eight years is an interesting call, because that would mean Tomas would be giving up a potential valuable free agent season. Seven would be more aligned with typical MLB service time for a top prospect, who can put in just shy of seven years before reaching free agency if called up a few weeks into the season.
- Yesterday, Jorge Arangure Jr. had an excellent profile of Tomas for Vice Sports. In it, Arangure said Tomas will likely choose a team from the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Mariners, and Padres, who have all scouted the player several times. Tomas’ Dominican-based trainer Raul Javier, asked when the player would sign, replied, “Very soon.”
Cmon Preller!!
Everybody hoping for Puig/Abreu II and not Hideo Nomo (post the first couple of years).
It’ll be interesting to see who nabs him, its just a shame for him that if he takes the highest offer and its from Philly, he wont be playing October baseball any time soon.
Do you think the Tigers are staying quiet (as is their standard practice, think Fielder or Price deals) on this…and will pounce at the last minute?
They were runner ups with Castillo. My thought is they wanted Tomas more, so they were not going to outbid the Red Sox… instead they were saving their dollars.
According to DD, they weren’t all that close on Castillo.
GMs never show there hand. The Phillies were also ‘never close’ to buying at the 2013 deadline, but the Astros reports that got leaked showed they had interest is like 4 different Astros.
It was widely reported that the Tigers finished second the Red Sox in the Castillo sweepstakes.
Technically DD may be right, they were “millions off”. But if the Red Sox were not in the picture, the Tigers would have likely gotten him.
I think theres at least a slight chance of that, ive read pieces that say DD does have an interest and has had him scouted several times (though many teams probably have to be fair).
I suppose it comes down to if we want to take on another $100m contract, as ive no doubt Illitch would ok it if DD insisted it would be a wise move.
All signs point to Philly but you never know.
Tigers are claiming to be wary of the luxury tax. They claim that they may not be active in big free agent contracts. So they say.
How could he be like Nomo? Nomo = the first SP from Japan; Tomas = 3rd in a strong string of Cuban OF.
I don’t see that connection, at all.
It’s not really a shame since Boston has no room for him, Detroit won’t spend when they need V-mart and possibly Scherzer or Price long term, the Padres don’t have that kind of money to lock into a player when they’re years away also, the mariners seem like a logical fit, the Yankees seem logical but they need a short stop and pitching, the Phillies the most obvious choice because of the youth and power factor he will have. If him going to philly is a shame, then Abreu to the White sox was a shame because he won’t be in October till atleast next year.
It will be a real shame to be a 24 year old with a 7-8 year, 9 figure contract. He should have plenty of time to reach the playoffs in his career. If not, I can think 9 figures should do the trick.
Quite, thats not the point i was making as im sure you know.
Still, the amount the people smugglers charge to get guys out of Cuba, you need a massive contract just to keep them happy.
Obviously, I know that wasn’t the point you were making.
If I was him, I go where the most money is too. Like you said, smuggling isn’t cheap and on top of that you have to worry about the family you left behind too because they’re usually put in a dangerous position. Either in a tough spot with the government or as potential ransom situations.
The Padres desperately need a star position player who can hit, but I don’t see the kid signing with the Padres.
Please come to the Phillies!
It’s incredibly simple minded the way people dismiss the Padres out of the sweepstakes just because they’re the Padres. They’re shedding $30M in contracts over the next two seasons and while they might not be knocking on the door like the Mariners are, Tomas isn’t a final piece. A 24-year-old with 30 home run power is someone you build around.
Who knows how much he would want to play in Petco, hes not a great outfielder, plus hes a power hitter. Petco doesn’t really work up well with him.
The fences have been moved in. And the offensive struggles affected left handers far more than right handed hitters. Left field has never been an issue in PETCO. Yes, PETCO still plays big, but it plays much closer to fair now than before.
Im always amazed when AT&T Park, gets lost in the shuffle when people around the game, talk about how big or huge, Petco is. Ive heard people go on and on about AT&T and how big it is, blah, blah, blah…and Im like, “Are you kiddiing me, PETCO is just as challenging as that place.
yea, its been ‘adjusted’, but it STILL plays big.
It plays very big. But there’s a distinction. SF at times blows out on occasion. And the ball flies better during the day. PETCO never blows out. But does also travel better during the day. AT&T is probably a little more pitcher friendly now, but very comparable with the modifications. Safeco plays about as big if not bigger as well. I think PETCO is perfect now. No one is complaining anymore like they used to when that was warranted. Closer to neutrality.
They are bringing in left field by 3 feet this offseason too.
It’s actually inches. 36-7 I believe. It was not for the park factor.
I highly doubt that someone like Tomas is going to be intimidated by a ballpark and even if he is, Petco punishes left-handed power.
If you take what MLBTR is saying about their projected payroll, if they keep Kennedy and all the other arbitration eligible players still on the 40 man, they still have about $30 million to spend this offseason. If they sign Tomas to a 7 year deal with an AAV of $12.5 million, they still have a bunch to spend on free agents or upgrades in trade.
I’d like to see him end up on the Mariners or the Padres, sine Kenta Maeda will not be posted.
I’m surprised the Rangers aren’t on the list of likely teams – they have big pocketbooks and have a spot in the outfield for him. Getting him would solidify their lineup and, assuming their pitchers aren’t all injured this season, help them contend again.
IF the Giants cant sign Sandoval, we should go after this stud
Don’t be surprised if they sign both. Giants Ownership said they were at their budget limit…yet some reports had them as high as #2 bidder for both Abreu and Castillo. Giants Ownership consists of some financial gurus and they may just have a separate fund to acquire an International Player of Tomas’ stature.
Can’t see them going after both, their budget isn’t big enough IMO. If Pablo walks, I could see it, but not before. The Giants need another starter too, which should be their no.1 priority after Pablo/Good Hitter. Plus, I don’t think the Giants were that high on Abreu, especially after Belt’s breakout season in 2013. As for Castillo, I’d say they were in the top 3 of bidders.
much easier to find pitching these days, cheaper too.
Cant believe Despaigne hasn’t come to the States. He tore it up in Japan last month there, almost tied Team lead for HR’s and played quarter of games.
The Phillies have no choice but to overpay for him as they need to give their fan base a glimmer of hope. However I have little confidence that Ruben will get it done.
All Cubans from now on who get these big contracts without ever doing anything in the MLB should have to take Jose Abreu out to dinner.
With all the news about the Phillies being the favorite, I wasn’t thinking Tomas could be an option for the Mariners. The M’s have a nice new academy in the Dominican. I wonder if that’s where they scouted him. The M’s wouldn’t have had to send people to the DR since they are already there.
Tomas would be a great fit in Seattle. He could hit between Cano and Seager and cover RF. They have the money to pay with anyone and he’s not going to cost prospects in trade (Kemp, Tulo) and he’s not costing draft picks (VMartinez).
Don’t count Seattle out on this one. They could easily go 7/$105M+ and then still have money to get one of the top 3 arms.
It wouldn’t matter if they had to send people or not. If they were interested they would have sent someone anyways.
Judging by the serious tone of the Vice article, I wonder if the team that’s close is in fact the Padres. I could see A.J. Preller being there in the D.R. for his workout. God knows the Padres could use some good news!
I hope the Padres can scrounge up enough money to pay this guy. Quinten has been a huge bust, and SD should move him to an AL team AFTER they sign Tomas.
If half a dozen teams offer him similar contracts around 100MM, give or take a few million here or there, the guy’s definitely going to choose a team like DET or SF over SD or PHI, unfortunately. I’m just hoping that the M’s sign Hanley, SF re-signs Panda and DET resigns V-Mart. If this happens I can go 3/3 on my contest but it also lessens (hopefully) the chances of them committing 100mm to an unknown commodity and then the Phils can sign this guy. Right now I would say that the M’s are the biggest obstacle to the Phillies getting a deal done
Phillies should sign Tomas or else
they have a need for a right fielder and feel his defense is at least adequate… that not the best reason to sign a 100MM dollar player.
that in addition to their belief that he will be a good hitter. Pretty safe to assume that that’s what they are thinking.
I’m surprised to see so much reporting on Tomas, getting right into these heavy longterm contracts, without questioning if he’s yet worth it.
Sure, he’s a huge talent, but he’s not played one inning in the majors. The same baseball evaluators are unable to guarantee with high percentage certainty that US minorleague top prospects to turn into successful majorleaguers. Why could Tomas be so different? I think there’s a huge chance of a big flop. This isn’t the same as, say, Yu Darvish coming to the U.S.
By now teams have heard this argument; they heard it when Cespedes came over, they heard it when Puig came over, they heard it when Abreu came over and they heard it when Castillo came over. At this point teams are willing to bet 75MM+ dollars that Tomas will be the next Jose Abreu not Jose Contreras.
I’m not contesting that international talents should get huge contracts at all. I’m just saying that even tested international transplants don’t usually get 7-8 years off the bat. Even Cespedes got a 4 year deal. Tomas is supposedly getting a franchise player deal without playing a day in pro ball. Tomas is about the age a top prospect would enter the majors after a few years in the minors. Most of those guys still need a few Majorleague years to adjust. Cespedes and Darvish aren’t comparable because they already matured into high quality players in their respective pro leagues, albeit lesser competition.
Those are the kind of deals that approach a decade length you give to Evan Longorias, Buster Poseys, Arod’s, etc in their prime cheap years. You could say that a team is trying to buy out their arb years in advance, and catch a bargain later as they prove their quality, but to do it this early on, teams are counting on him becoming an above average everyday starter just to break even. It’s a huge bet. Im not saying he isn’t or won’t be worth it. I’m just pointing out that it’s a bet. Just because it worked in recent top line cases doesn’t mean any old international transplant will become the next Darvish or Cespedes.
Any contract given to a player is a bet. The quality of scouting has improved immensely over the last 5-10 years. Tomas is worth it.
AJ Preller’s got this
Talk about making the same mistakes over and over – 2 of the top teams mentioned here for his services are the Phillies and Tigers.
Those teams have major, major salary issues moving forward. Those franchises would do well to put that $100M or so into their scouting and development areas, and work on getting 3-6 – or more – quality major league players over the next 3-5 years. Throwing this much money at this guy – combined with their current financial obligations – assures that their farm system will have limited resources to find and develop players to put around this guy. I don’t care if he’s another Miggy – one player does not turn a major league franchise.
There is a huge difference between a rebuilding team spending a lot of money on an aging vet and spending a lot of money on a 24 year old they can build their team around for years to come.
I will agree that for a lot of teams it makes more sense to add a few good guys for less money than spending a bunch of money on one player, but I will disagree on the point that one guy can turn around a franchise.
One player for some teams can change the entire mindset of a franchise, from being an average team to feeling like they can contend. Take for instance the Nationals signing of Jayson Werth. Everyone hated that signing, but look at where the Nationals have gone since then.
Another case, the Mariners signing Robinson Cano. 71 wins in 2013 to 87 wins in 2014. I know both teams had other pieces around him to help that, but there is something to be said about the affect on the mindset.