Will The Padres Be A Factor For Yasmani Tomas?

Yasmani Grandal may not be the only Yasmani on the team next year. According to Peter Gammons in his latest notes column, the Padres are one of the early frontrunners for slugging outfielder Yasmani Tomas, who is scheduled to hold a workout this weekend.

"The early favorites are the Giants, who were in hard on both Jose Abreu and Rusney Castillo, the Phillies, Padres, Rangers and the Tigers. But that can change, in a hurry."

This is clearly an A.J. Preller-influenced decision. One of the ways the Rangers built their teams was through international players like Jurickson Profar and acquiring players like Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz.

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Do I expect the Padres to sign Tomas? No, especially if his price range exceeds the Red Sox’ deal for Castillo. Tomas would fit, considering the Padres have some question marks in the outfield with Cameron Maybin and Rymer Liriano.

Tomas is a big, slugging bat, one that is hard to come by in this day and age of baseball. The Padres don’t have that kind of bat in the system, and at this point, it’s hard for them to get those kind of bats in the free agent market.

If the Padres can swing a deal for Tomas, it’s a deal that could help accelerate the rebuilding plan and an impressive first move for Preller.