He’s 6’4” tall and weighs in at 240 pounds and he loves to play baseball. Yet another Cuban baseball player is on his way to the USA and Major League Baseball. His name is Yasmany Tomas and he is looking to follow in the footsteps of Yasiel Puig, Rusney Castillo and Jose Abreu, all Cubans who have all recently signed multiyear and multimillion dollar contracts with major league clubs.
Before his harrowing escape from Cuba, Yasiel Puig was bringing home a steady $17 a month playing for Castro. Tomas probably wasn’t making much more than that so it is easy to see to motivations involved.
Recently down in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Yasmany Tomas got to showcase his talents in front of representatives from all 30 Major League Baseball franchises. That should be a pretty good indicator that the 23 year old outfielder has some very special baseball moves to display.
The six hour session took place at the San Francisco Giant’s training academy in Boca Chica and represented a giant step for the young Cuban outfielder on his journey to the USA, and Major League Baseball and Tomas seems to be having a ball along the way.
Puig got a $42 million, seven year deal. Abreu got six years at $68 million and Castillo topped the trio with a whopping $72.5 million, seven year contract so, no need to ask about incentives for young Tomas. He told MLB.com, via an interpreter, “I have expectations of myself and what I want to do in my career.”
Speaking of his upcoming audition in front of an All-Star collection of MLB scouts, Tomas continued, “Sunday will be a new experience, but I’m ready for it. I’ve played in Cuba, around the world and in the World Baseball Classic against tough competition. This is a new challenge, but I look forward to that. I might be a little nervous in my first at-bat, but it’s still baseball. I’ll do the best and I plan on showing the scouts who I am.” So, the guy is not shy.
Quite the contrary, friends of Yasmany Tomas say that the kid is always smiling. “You should hear him tell a joke or stories. He’s hilarious”, this from a buddy who has known Tomas for the past 15 years back when they used to go to ball games with Tomas’ grandfather to cheer on the Havana Industriales.
Details of just how Tomas made his way off the island of Cuba are still sketchy but, if it was anything like that of Yasiel Puig, we may have another thriller movie in the pipeline!
