Yasmany Tomas On Seattle Mariners’ Radar

The market for one of the top young power hitters from Cuba, Yasmany Tomas, is starting to come into focus. And the Seattle Mariners are on the list of interested teams according to a tweet by MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez.

It’s not surprising that the Mariners would be interested. The 23-year old outfielder was recently cleared by OFAC and is able to sign with a club. The Mariners would make a nice fit for Tomas, who is pegged to be a corner outfielder at the Major League level.

Tim Dierkes of MLBTR recently speculated that Tomas will likely get a 7-year deal worth over $100 million. Because of the timing, signing Tomas would not count towards a team’s International Player signing bonus poll money, therefore if Seattle signed him, they would not be subjected to the next level of penalties they would likely incur.

Also, a plus to signing Tomas versus an MLB free agent is the lack of a qualifying offer that is likely to accompany players like Victor Martinez and Nelson Cruz. Which would cost the Mariners a draft pick in signing one of those players. The very thing that deterred teams from signing Kendrys Morales this past offseason.

San Francisco was listed as the early favorite by Peter Gammons and San Diego has made the news lately with speculation that they will make a push for Tomas. They have already held two private workouts with him.

The Dodgers seem the least likely option of those teams listed, seeing that they already have a backlog of outfielders on the roster.

With many scouts and experts being of the opinion that Tomas may need a bit of time at Triple-A first, the Mariners have options in the outfield while they wait for Tomas to be ready.

It’s a developing story and one that we will keep an eye on for you here at SodoMojo.