Last week it was believed Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas was close to signing with an MLB team. That has apparently changed because he'll be attending the winter meetings, which is expected to delay any contract talks he has with teams.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted earlier today that we shouldn't be expecting a Tomas signing because he'll be heading to San Diego on December 8 for the meetings, which will last from the 7th until the 11th. The meetings are an annual gathering of baseball executives across the world that bring together front office personnel, trade show exhibitors and job seekers in one place for five days of seminars, league meetings and organizational meetings.
A number of signings and trades are known to occur during the winter meetings, which is why Tomas' signing is expected to wait until that week or beyond. The 24-year-old slugger has been garnering interest from the Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners. More teams can jump into the mix depending on what transactions occur within the next few weeks.
The Phillies were believed to be the outright front-runner for Tomas, but Paul Hagen of MLB.com wrote on Thursday that the team has "cooled on the idea" of signing the Cuban defector. Philadelphia is currently looking to rid themselves of numerous costly contracts and Tomas is not going to be cheap. He's expected to land a deal in excess of fellow Cuban Rusney Castillo's seven-year, $72.5 million contract that he signed in August with the Red Sox. Many believe Tomas' deal could be near $100 million.
But now as Philadelphia's endeavors to trade Cole Hamels (for an excessive return), Ryan Howard, Jonathan Papelbon, Domonic Brown and others, have proven to be much more difficult than originally expected (although they were already expected to be a challenge), paying that much money for Tomas is slowly falling down their to-do list. The team is apparently concerned with his defensive abilities and is considering shifting Brown to right field (if they can trade Marlon Byrd) and use one of their own players to take over in left field. This move would save them a lot of money, which they'll need to do since they're in rebuilding mode.
This opens the door for a number of MLB teams who are willing to pay for a power-hitting outfielder. If the Giants don't re-sign Pablo Sandoval then Tomas might leap higher on their wish list. If the Mariners fail to land one of the free agents they're interested in (Hanley Ramirez, Nelson Cruz) or trade targets (Justin Upton, Matt Kemp), then Tomas could become their lone priority.
The offseason is still alive and well, so stay tuned for more news on signings and trades.
