Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Mets to scout Cuban slugger, but price high

Koji Sasahara/Associated Press

Cuban defector Yasmany Tomas will work out for teams on Sunday in the Dominican Republic.

NEW YORK -- The Mets will have representatives scouting Cuban defector Yasmany Tomas' workout on Sunday in the Dominican Republic. Still, given the expected price tag and the Mets' lack of inclination to seriously boost their payroll, it would seem more a fact-finding mission than anything.

"We'll have guys there, as we have virtually every time," Paul DePodesta said. "We continue to evaluate all of the players as they become available, as we would with any free agent."

ESPN's Keith Law writes about Tomas:

Tomas might get paid like Jose Abreu or Yasiel Puig, but he's not in their class as a prospect, and if paid similarly he would be benefiting from how successful Abreu and Puig have been. 

Tomas is a stout center fielder who'll have to move to a corner outfield spot, as he's a below-average runner with a stiff body who could probably stand to shed some weight before he signs. (Baseball-Reference lists him at 6-foot-1 and 229 pounds, but he looked much heavier than that last summer.) What Tomas brings is plus power, and I don't think it's just BP power, as he's very short to the ball -- maybe even more so than Abreu -- with good hip rotation and a very quiet approach. He keeps his head steady through contact and his back leg pretty strong. However, he has below-average bat speed, unlike Abreu (whose is average or better) or Puig (whose is just ridiculous), and I've had multiple scouts tell me they question Tomas' ability to hit for average against major league pitching. 

A reasonable/optimistic projection for Tomas would be an average to slightly above-average regular in left field, with 25 to 30 homers, a low OBP and below-average defense. 

I expect him to be paid as if he's more than that, however, because of the success of the Cuban hitters to come before him, and because international free agency is one of the only places MLB teams can spend money with impunity now that the draft and the July 2 free agents are both capped by bonus-pool numbers and penalty structures.

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