Diamondbacks sign Yasmany Tomas: Fantasy Impact

Diamondbacks new GM Dave Stewart has quickly made his mark in Arizona as he has signed Cuban power hitting outfielder Yasmany Tomas to a 6 year, $68.5 million contract today. The contract includes an opt out clause after the fourth year.

To learn more about Tomas, here is a scouting report from Ben Badler from Baseball America:

A righthanded-hitting corner outfielder, Tomas can hit towering home runs thanks to the strength from his thickly-built 6-foot-1, 230-pound frame.

Given his present talent level, Tomas might have a chance to go straight into a major league lineup, but a more likely scenario would have him starting in the upper minors, with Triple-A seeming like a good fit.

The WBC provided a breakout platform for Tomas to showcase his skills in front of scouts, and he seized the opportunity, ranking as the No. 6 prospect at the tournament. While veteran national teamer Alexei Bell started the tournament in right field, by the end of the event Tomas was getting more playing time, going 6-for-16 (.412) with two home runs, one double, one walk and four strikeouts. During the 2012-13 Serie Nacional regular season that year, Tomas hit .289/.364/.538 with 15 home runs, 34 walks (10 intentional) and 52 strikeouts in 324 plate appearances over 81 games, ranking fifth in the league in slugging and sixth in home runs. That came one year after his breakthrough 2011-12 campaign when he batted .301/.340/.580 with 16 homers in 240 plate appearances over 69 games.

Tomas will play one of the outfield corners for the Diamondbacks, with Mark Trumbo manning the other outfield corner and A.J. Pollock in center field. With the news of the signing, there is talk that the Diamondbacks could deal Trumbo to a team starving for a power hitter or to an American League team looking to fill their DH role. Until that happens, the middle of the Diamondbacks lineup will include Tomas, Trumbo and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

For some reason, I don't think new GM Stewart is done making deals, as the team needs to rebuild and could deal Trumbo and one of their shortstops Didi Gregorius or Chris Owings for a starting pitcher.

For fantasy purposes, it is tough to rank Tomas based on scouting reports and his performance in Cuba, but we should get a better idea of his talent in spring training, if not sooner, assuming the Diamondbacks ask that he play winter ball in the Dominican or Puerto Rico.

In the take it for what it's worth department, ESPN's Keith Law had this to say about Tomas' power potential:

He's a below-average runner with a stiff body, but he has power that should play at any position -- with a short path to the ball, quiet approach and good hip rotation, driving off his back leg for power that should amount to 25 to 30 homers per year.

With power down across baseball, his power potential becomes very attractive on draft day, should Law's projection come to fruition. In 2014, only 11 hitters hit 30 or more home runs, and 26 hitters hit 25 or more home runs, so Tomas' could prove to be expensive on draft day due to his power potential alone. Hitting in Chase Field certainly helps as it is one of the better hitting parks in baseball.

I haven't thought about where I would rank him in my 2015 outfielder rankings, but I could see ranking him in the 25-35 range. I will update my outfielder rankings tomorrow morning, as I want to capture some of the offseason trades and free agent signings.