The Diamondbacks will call up outfielder Yasmany Tomas prior to Friday’s game against the Marlins, the Pelota Cubana blog reports (Twitter link). Adjustments will have to be made to Arizona’s 25-man and 40-man roster, as Tomas was outrighted off the 40-man in April 2018.
This will mark Tomas’ first Major League action since 2017, as the 28-year-old spent all of last season at Triple-A Reno. Signed to a six-year, $68.5MM contract prior to the 2015 season, Tomas hasn’t at all lived up to the buzz that made him one of the most highly-touted players to come out of Cuba in recent years. Tomas hit .268/.307/.462 with 48 home runs over 1169 plate appearances for the D’Backs from 2015-17, with the bulk of that production coming during a 31-homer campaign in 2016 that seemed like a breakout.
Instead, Tomas regressed in 2017, and seemed to fall out of favor once Mike Hazen took over as Arizona’s general manager. Since that outright assignment, Tomas has seemed to rediscover some his stroke at the plate, particularly with his .944 OPS in 413 Triple-A plate appearances this season.
Tomas has also spent the bulk of his time this year at first base, which theoretically would be his likeliest role with the D’Backs. Since Paul Goldschmidt was locked into first base during Tomas’ initial stint with the team, Tomas struggled badly on defense while playing third base and in the corner outfield. The D’Backs already have the right-handed hitting Christian Walker at first base this season, though while Walker has generally hit well, he has hit enough of a slump over the last month that Arizona might feel it worthy to give Tomas a shot at re-establishing himself. Tomas could still see some playing time in the outfield, particularly if Adam Jones or David Peralta is dealt before the trade deadline.
The D’Backs still owe Tomas roughly $23.2MM through the end of the 2020 season, so there’s little harm in seeing if Tomas’ Triple-A numbers are for real and if some value can still be salvaged from the contract. With the Snakes also still in the NL wild card hunt, Tomas could be an in-house (if unlikely) hitting upgrade that can help the club immediately, and potentially keep them from looking for a bat elsewhere before the deadline.
acarneglia
Lol! What?
jryder0
This man has been destroying the baseball at Reno AAA and i have been waiting for this to happen
jamesa-2
He still cannot hit for even league average, has one of the worst walk rates possible, and has no position on the field he is capable of playing. Where the heck does AZ stick him, fist base? That means sitting their third most productive bat of the season and a plus defender/base runner.
SupremeZeus
Stay off the 101. Yasmany is back.
Joe Covert
I could destroy the baseball in the Pacific Coast League. He’s only getting the call-up to DH in NY and hopefully showcase enough to warrant a trade. That contract is the worst in D-Backs history.
jrjalr
Everyone is destroying the baseball in the PCL. It’s a bad barometer for skill.
Deve
the prodigal son has returned!!
sillyscully
I may sound naive by asking this, but why was he in the minors to begin with? It’s not like he pulled a Crushless Davis…
mrortiz123
Because he is a defensive liability. Should have never been signed to a NL team to begin with. Probably worst signing in Team History. With that said, the way he’s been hitting the ball it makes sense to call him up and see if he can build some trade value for this summer. Question is who is being traded? Jones, Dyson or Peralta
azcrook
Potato Chip body Souza a real bad signing
echozulu88
Souza was a trade
twinsfan368
Souza
jorge78
Did you read the article?
Matt Galvin
A Trade involving Dyson or so on maybe.
jamesa-2
I was thinking Adam Jones, but Dyson might be a possibility. Talk about a massive hit to the defense though. Imean, Jones is a poor defender, already, but he is still far better than Tomas. However, going from Jones to Tomas would not be a titanic shift in defensive ability. Going from Dyson to Tomas though, the team might be better with a cardboard cutout when it comes to defense.
manos
Didn’t even realize he was still under contract with an mlb team.
lowtalker1
Made 13.5 mil to hang out in the minors last year
15 mil this year
17 mil next year
The Ghost of Bobby Bonilla
Boy, he seems like a perfect trade candidate to Cleveland along with about $14M ($3 this year and $11 next) for a lotto ticket.
CLE gets a right handed power bat and ARI gets between $6 and $7M of salary relief along with the lotto ticket.
prestigeworldwide
sold
tjritter79
So…tonight he’s gonna party like its 2015!
Oxford Karma
He’s easy to move on and off the 40 man roster because no one wants that contract.
baseball10183768
B
SupremeZeus
Dyson to da cub?
baseball10183768
Who’s most likely to be taken off the 40 man?
jorge78
The one guy who greatly helped to change International bonus rules!
jorge78
I guess that contract was seriously backloaded…..
h0wmyd0ing
Totally just added him in a fantasy league….
Strike Four
I hope he’s been buying dinner for all his underpaid minor league team mates every night!
leftcoaster
29 hr’s and the AAA home run derby champ. When Yaz hits em they open up their mouth and scream.
ericdbright
This is probably long overdue. I was surprised he wasn’t brought up Lamb went out. Walker is a boom or bust hitter. Tomas has put together a nice season and is mashing LHPs. I know it’s the PCL, but he’s batting .170 HIGHER than Walker vs Lefties. He’s worth a shot and it isn’t costing them anything.
leftcoaster
They also have Cron who has obliterated the PCL. Should be interesting to see what they do with all these guys.