Industriales Slugger Yasmani Tomas Abandons Cuba, Seeks MLB Contract

One of Cuba’s top prospects

HAVANA TIMES — Yasmani Tomas, one of the top prospects of Cuban baseball, has left the island in the footsteps of numerous compatriots currently succeeding in Major League Baseball (MLB), reported Café Fuerte.

Tomas, 23, abandoned Cuba by boat to Haiti, from where he would cross over to the Dominican Republic to seek legal residence and to negotiate a free-agent MLB contract in the U.S., confirmed on Thursday a source close to the family of the player in Havana.

“It was something that everyone expected at any time, the question was why he hadn’t done it before,” the source told Café Fuerte requesting anonymity. “I think he can do very well over there.”

The news was confirmed Friday by Granma newspaper, in a passing reference to the fact that attributes such exits to “unscrupulous human trafficking.”

The route of Haiti was also used last year by José Dariel Abreu of Cienfuegos, now a rookie star with the Chicago White Sox after signing a contract for $68 million, notes journalist Adrián Romero.

In Cuba Tomas played for Havana’s Industriales and was on the Cuban national team starting in 2013, playing in the 3rd World Baseball Classic.

In another loss to the island’s teams, Daniel Carbonell, 23, signed this week to a four year 1.4 million dollar contract with the San Francisco Giants. The outfielder played for Camaguey in the Cuban league, abandoning the island in October of last year.