Braves jump into mix for Cuban slugger Tomas

The Atlanta Braves have entered the Yasmany Tomas sweepstakes as a dark horse.

The Braves are slated to watch Tomas and his exploits in coming days, according to sources.

They join a big field eyeing 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.

The Royals are one of many others that have scouted Tomas recently, too.

Tomas, 24, is looking to beat Rusney Castillo‘s record $72.5 million signing by the Red Sox.

Tomas could wait until the Winter Meetings before he signs. It was reported here Thursday that Tomas has obtained a visa and could talk face-to-face with teams at the league-wide event that begins Dec. 8 in San Diego.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.