Diamondbacks still aren’t sure what to do with $68.5 million signing Yasmany Tomas

By Apr 7, 2015, 10:15 AM EDT
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First the Diamondbacks insisted Yasmany Tomas could play third base, then they moved him to the outfield, and now they’ve sent him to Triple-A. So what position will the $68.5 million pickup from Cuba play in the minors?

Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports that Tomas will play third base, outfield, and possibly even some first base. Or as general manager Dave Stewart put it:

What we’re trying to do is figure out a way to create at-bats for him, which is primarily the reason he didn’t stay. If we had more at-bats and could get him more playing time, he’d be here.

First base in Arizona is occupied by Paul Goldschmidt and prospect Jake Lamb is a better long-term bet at third base. Mark Trumbo started in right field for the Diamondbacks on Opening Day. He’s a 29-year-old with a career .247 batting average and .298 on-base percentage. He also has a .460 slugging percentage thanks to 30-homer power, but the combination of his awful OBP skills, age, and poor defense make Trumbo someone who really shouldn’t be blocking Tomas on a rebuilding team.

Whenever he does get called up to Arizona for good, it seems likely that Tomas will be replacing Trumbo.

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN on opening day

Associated PressMar 23, 2023, 12:09 AM EDT
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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.