Should Yasmany Tomas be on the Texas Rangers wishlist?

The Texas Rangers are already busy with their offseason plans and hopefully that includes signing Yasmany Tomas.  His agent reported last Thursday that MLB had declared him a free agent, which means many teams will be trying to add them to their club.

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The Texas Rangers have already shown interest in Tomas and were one of several teams that attended one of his workouts.  Also, the Texas Rangers held a private workout session with him.

Several other teams are also working to either have private sessions or to a least have a chance to evaluate him.

There are a lot of teams already showing a lot of interest in the 23 year old slugging outfielder.  Early rumors said there was a team that was going to offer him a deal worth $75 million.  The team that made the offer wasn’t announced, but the Yankees were said to not be that team.

Should the Texas Rangers sign Tomas?   First, who is Yasmany Tomas?.  Tomas is one of the top young power hitters in Cuba.  He recently defected from Cuba and is now able to play in the majors.  He has 5 seasons under his belt with his Cuban team the Serie Nacional.

Tomas stands at 6 feet and 1 inches weighing in at 230 pounds.  He’s able to use that thick frame to smash high-towering home runs.  Scouting reports give him a power rating of 70 on a 20-80 scale.  He’s best as a corner outfielder, mainly because his speed a bit below average.

During the 2012-13 season he had a batting line of .289/.364/.538 with 15 home runs, 15 walks and 52 strikeouts over 81 games/381 plate-appearance.  Last season in Cuba he had a battling line of .290/.346/.450 with 6 home runs, 46 strikeouts and 21 walks over 69 games/257 plate-appearances.    His games played and home runs were down a bit, but reports show that he suffered an arm injury during the first half of the season, which reduced his playing time.

While he does have very good power, he does have some swing and miss issues.  He needs some work on hitting handling breaking pitches and some overall plate discipline.

Overall, he’s by far one of the best players in Cuba and will make things very interesting this Hot Stove season.  The Rangers desperately need to add another power hitter in their lineup.  With Tomas being only 23 years old, he could be a very good addition.  He’ll give them the years they need, power in the lineup and someone in the outfield to replace Alex Rios.   Hopefully Jon Daniels can company will make this happen, but the Rangers also need starting pitching this offseason.  But, it can easily be argued they need to add power to the offense more than they need a number 3 starting pitcher.