Diamondbacks land Yasmany Tomas

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Thursday, November 27, 2014

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas have agreed to a six-year contract worth $68.5 million, according to a report by MLB.com.



The report, which cites industry sources, states that the deal is believed to include an opt-out clause after four years.



Tomas would become the latest Cuban star to sign a lucrative contract with a major league team, joining Jose Abreu, Rusney Castillo, Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes and Aroldis Chapman.



Tomas, who reportedly turned 24 earlier this month, is a corner outfielder who has spent parts of the past seven years playing for theHavana Industriales. He batted .375 (6 for 16) for Cuba with two homers and five RBIs in last year's World Baseball Classic.



Tomas would join an Arizona outfield hampered last season by injuries to Mark Trumbo (stress fracture in left foot) and A.J. Pollock (broken right hand), who both missed about half the season. Trumbo, Ender Inciarte and Cody Ross have been Arizona's top projected corner outfielders.



Arizona went a major league-worst 64-98 last season, fired manager Kirk Gibson and reassigned general manager Kevin Towers, who left to become a Cincinnati Redsspecial assistant. Former big league pitcher Dave Stewart was hired as the Diamondbacks' GM under Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa and Chip Hale took over as manager.



In Stewart's first major move, Arizona acquired pitcher Jeremy Hellickson from Tampa for a pair of minor league prospects.



In total dollars among Cuban players, Tomas' deal would fall just short of the $72.5 million, seven-year contract agreed to in August between Castillo and the Boston Red Sox. The $11.42 million average would be just above Abreu's $11.33 million average in the $68 million, six-year deal he agreed to with the Chicago White Sox in October 2011. Abreu went on to win AL Rookie of the Year.



Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.



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