Power hitting outfielder Yasmani Tomas leaves Cuba

[ace3113]

I remember this guy from the WBC, he was really impressive. He'd be a nice replacement for Rasmus if our scouts think he can stick in center or even Melky if he has to move to a corner.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/power-hitting-yasmani-tomas-leaves-cuba/

 

Power Hitter Yasmani Tomas Leaves Cuba

 

Yasmani Tomas, one of the top young power hitters in Cuba and a member of the national team, has left the island to pursue a contract with a major league team, Baseball America has learned. The Cuban newspaper Granma also confirmed that Tomas had left the country.

 

Tomas is 23 and has played five seasons in Serie Nacional, so he will be exempt from the international bonus pools, even when the new rules kick in on July 2 that require five seasons instead of three for pool exemption. Tomas was arguably one of the top 10 or so players left in Cuba in terms of major league potential, and one of the top half dozen players who meet MLB’s 23-and-5 rules, the sweet spot for a signing unencumbered by the pools.

 

A righthanded-hitting corner outfielder, Tomas can hit towering home runs thanks to the strength from his thickly-built 6-foot-1, 230-pound frame. Tomas has 70 raw power on the 20-80 scale, and with Jose Abreu already gone, the only player still in Cuba with more raw power than him was Alfredo Despaigne. He has some experience in center field and is a decent runner for his size, but his speed is still below-average and he’s going to be a corner outfielder in pro ball.

 

Tomas was one of the youngest players on the Cuban national team at the 2013 World Baseball Classic, although he had an up-and-down season for his Industriales team this past season. Given his present talent level, Tomas might have a chance to go straight into a major league lineup, but a more likely scenario would have him starting in the upper minors, with Triple-A seeming like a good fit.

 

The WBC provided a breakout platform for Tomas to showcase his skills in front of scouts, and he seized the opportunity, ranking as the No. 6 prospect at the tournament. While veteran national teamer Alexei Bell started the tournament in right field, by the end of the event Tomas was getting more playing time, going 6-for-16 (.412) with two home runs, one double, one walk and four strikeouts. During the 2012-13 Serie Nacional regular season that year, Tomas hit .289/.364/.538 with 15 home runs, 34 walks (10 intentional) and 52 strikeouts in 324 plate appearances over 81 games, ranking fifth in the league in slugging and sixth in home runs. That came one year after his breakthrough 2011-12 campaign when he batted .301/.340/.580 with 16 homers in 240 plate appearances over 69 games.

 

Tomas did show some swing-and-miss tendencies at the WBC 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 past season in Cuba, which ended with Industriales losing in the semifinals in April, Tomas seemed to regress, even losing playing time in the second half, which one source said was the result of an arm injury he sustained crashing into an outfield wall in February. He finished the season at .290/.346/.450 with six home runs, 21 walks and 46 strikeouts in 257 plate appearances.

 

Tomas will still have to obtain residency in another country, get an unblocking license from the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball to be eligible to enter into an agreement with a club. The timetable for jumping through those hurdles varies, though it seems unlikely Tomas would sign before the end of the season and it might take him until 2015 to ultimately sign.

 

[HERPDERP]

scouting report pls angrioter

 

I know you're DR but Cuba/DR are pretty much the same anyways

[Inklink]

Dodgers or Stankees.

[jays4life19]

Sounds like he's more of a left fielder.

[Angrioter]

LF with tons of pop but not the best Cuban athlete.

 

Dayan Viciedo kind of guy for me.

[connorp]

scouting report pls angrioter

 

I know you're DR but Cuba/DR are pretty much the same anyways

 

Does the DR like the Cubans? Idk. PRetty sure nobody likes the Puerto Ricans though

[HERPDERP]

Does the DR like the Cubans? Idk. PRetty sure nobody likes the Puerto Ricans though

 

They're all pretty much the same to me!

 

Mexicanan/All of South America/Spanish/DR/PR/Venezuelan/Cuban

 

Korean/Japanese

 

Malaysian/Thai

 

I cannot for the life of me tell the difference.

 

/notracist

[connorp]

They're all pretty much the same to me!

 

Mexicanan/All of South America/Spanish/DR/PR/Venezuelan/Cuban

 

Korean/Japanese

 

Malaysian/Thai

 

I cannot for the life of me tell the difference.

 

/notracist

 

DR is easy to differentiate. Much darker for the most part

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Dodgers or Stankees.

 

Seattle ?

[Angrioter]

DR is easy to differentiate. Much darker for the most part

 

http://encuentrodominicano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chica-playa.jpg

[Orgfiller]

He's not a CF at all if anyone is expecting that. He has a terrific arm but isn't athletic enough to play the more demanding position in CF, will easily end up as a corner OF. He has great pop, power is legit, to all fields. Can't recall plate discipline.

[Dick_Pole]

scouting report pls angrioter

 

I know you're DR but Cuba/DR are pretty much the same anyways

 

I've been to both places. Totally not the same. Dominicans are like rabid animals. Cubans are like timid little bunnies. 50+ years of a communist dictatorship loaded with spies and a government with no problem making you disappear can tend to do that to a society.

[NorthOf49]

This outlook is pretty lame, and reeks of racism? What's your origin?

I wouldn't say it's racist. People from adjacent countries generally look similar. It's true.

[Dick_Pole]

I'm quite aware of the similarities, I'm from the UK and we all look similar. I'm just following up after his first post to Ang, it's not very becoming, and he wasn't joking. Why don't you ask Orgfiller and Angrioters opinion on those posts, Ang takes it in stride, but I don't think Org is very fond of this fallacy. "Yeah, there all just Mexicans to me" Pffttt.....

 

...then we should line up 5 random white guys and ask those two to point out which ones are the Canadians and which ones are the Americans...or the Europeans for that matter.

[NorthOf49]

Yeah I wouldn't be able to tell a Dominican apart from a Cuban. Guess that makes a racist. Oops.

[Dick_Pole]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHXgSAsPzpc

[ElNik2013]

I was tempted to comment on the Cubans, Dominicans thing, but then I remembered I don't smoke cigars so I figured I wouldn't add much to the discussion.

[Orgfiller]

Did you get to watch him play in Cuba?

 

I did, Industriales is our hometown team. About the arm: he won a sort of skills competition in the All Star Game where it was basically "Who can throw the furthest?"

[Orgfiller]

Btw, Cubans = Puerto Ricans = Brazilians in general appearance. Although Dominicans and Cubans are somewhat similar as well but not as much IMO.

 

Mexicans do not share any common physical characteristics with Caribbeans, so please get your heads out of your asses people.

[connorp]

Hey as long as we're OT like this... do Canadians really say "eh" a lot or is that just an overblown thing that Americans like to mock on. It's a serious question.

[Ziggyy108]

A bat with some real potential that we can add mid season without giving up any prospects??

 

Too good to be true

[Ziggyy108]

They're all pretty much the same to me!

 

Mexicanan/All of South America/Spanish/DR/PR/Venezuelan/Cuban

 

Korean/Japanese

 

Malaysian/Thai

 

I cannot for the life of me tell the difference.

 

/notracist

 

Weather you are for real, or actually think that you are funny .... Posts like this are just f***ing stupid.

[L54]

When I come home to Canada for the summers, I notice every single "eh" my friends and family use. By the end of summer, when I head back to the US, my use of "eh" has dramatically increased, and all my friends pick up on it.

 

TLDR; yes, they do.

[connorp]

Did anyone catch the clip where some news guys interviewing Samuel Jackson mistook him for doing a super bowl commercial that Lawrence Fishburne did?

 

...lol... it was funny. SJ got so pissed and started giving the guys s*** about him thinking all black people look the same

[GD]

How expensive is he gonna come? Considering we don't actually have 3 total regular outfielders employed for next year, could be worth a look.

[Angrioter]

I'm quite aware of the similarities, I'm from the UK and we all look similar. I'm just following up after his first post to Ang, it's not very becoming, and he wasn't joking. Why don't you ask Orgfiller and Angrioters opinion on those posts, Ang takes it in stride, but I don't think Org is very fond of this fallacy. "Yeah, there all just Mexicans to me" Pffttt.....

 

Guerra racial. Malditos Ingleses

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lplizcJdeK1qe144go1_500.gif

[Angrioter]

I did, Industriales is our hometown team. About the arm: he won a sort of skills competition in the All Star Game where it was basically "Who can throw the furthest?"

 

Vives en Cuba?

Yo vive unos meses en la Hebana; mi esposa estudio parte de su residencia medica en Cuba.

[Angrioter]

Btw, Cubans = Puerto Ricans = Brazilians in general appearance. Although Dominicans and Cubans are somewhat similar as well but not as much IMO.

 

Mexicans do not share any common physical characteristics with Caribbeans, so please get your heads out of your asses people.

 

Canadian

http://www.consumerfoodsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/canada.south_.park_.jpg

VS

USA

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120602183849/southpark/es/images/0/01/Cartman_pensando_en_maldades_como_siempre.jpg

[Dick_Pole]

Vives en Cuba?

Yo vive unos meses en la Hebana; mi esposa estudio parte de su residencia medica en Cuba.

 

People can't get too offended over calling them all the same when they start talking in their, funny, secret-coded language.

[Dick_Pole]

I'm talking about the overtone?

 

Hmm, well if it makes you feel better, the poster in question does have an avatar making fun of the expression of one of the few pale-faces on this team. Equal opportunity hater.