Yasmani Tomas, 23, could be the next Cuban defector to hit it big -- record-breakingly big -- on Major League Baseball’s free agent market. Via Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe ...
Cafardo says the Phillies “could go hard on him” but the Red Sox and “several other teams” have interest. Tomas defected from Cuba in June and was cleared for employment last week by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The big-bodied corner outfielder batted .301/.333/.580 with 16 homers in 69 games as a 20-year-old in Cuba’s Serie Nacional back in 2011 and was a standout in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Rusney Castillo’s recent seven-year, $72.5 million pact with the Boston Red Sox is the current record for a Cuban signee. Jose Abreu got a six-year, $68 million contract from the Chicago White Sox last October and Yasiel Puig received a seven-year, $42 million deal from the Los Angels Dodgers in June 2012.