The drama surrounding Cuban slugger, Yasmany Tomas, has gradually increased over the weeks but has escalated quite a bit today. With the Phillies reportedly planning to back off in their pursuit, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that another NL East might be interested in Tomas' services.
The Braves are slated to watch Tomas and his exploits in coming days, according to sources.
They join a big field eyeing on the free-agent Cuban slugger. The Phillies, Padres and Giants have been seen as the most aggressive pursuers of the outfielder/third baseman, but there's been a lot of talk about a mystery team winning his services in recent days.
The Braves could qualify as a surprise team, but they recently made room in the outfield by trading Jason Heyward. They also have been in trade talks involving outfielders Justin Upton and Evan Gattis, but new Braves president of baseball operations John Hart has long loved power hitters, as folks may recall from his Cleveland and Texas days.
Though the Phillies mindset on Tomas seems to have changed, CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury said that their interest remains, just not at the same price.
Re: Y. Tomas hysteria. Phils have always liked bat. Concerned about defense, phys condition. Would still like to have him, but not at 100M
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) November 20, 2014
Continuing: Phils still on Tomas, but price has to come down.
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) November 20, 2014
A team that has seen the likes of Domonic Brown, Darin Ruf and Ben Revere in the outfield is concerned about his defense? It must be really bad, because the other internal options have shown that they aren't much better.
The upside seems greater than the downside though, as Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan said Tomas showed his offensive power at the Phillies complex this week.
Yasmany Tomas story No. 2: At Phillies complex, he showed off prodigious opposite-field power and hit a home run into a laundry room in RCF.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 20, 2014
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
