There were a lot of rumors about where Cuban free agent outfielder would land when he finally signed with a Major League team. Few expected his final destination to be Arizona. The Diamondbacks new general manager Dave Stewart and new chief baseball officer Tony Larussa took another step towards rebuilding the franchise by signing the 24 year old Cuban defector to the largest free agent contract of any Cuban player to date topping deals offered to players such as Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, and Jose Abreu. Arizona buckled down and out bid other teams that had heavy interest in the outfielder including the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.

Tomas will make $68 million dollars over the six-year term of his contract and the Diamondbacks hope that he will be a instant contributor. Most American fans will remember Tomas as the thickly built right fielder who hit moonshot home runs in the last World Baseball Classic.

This is just the latest move for the newly hired Stewart and Larussa. They worked out a deal to acquire pitcher Jeremy Hellickson from the Tampa Bay Rays just weeks into their new roles and now have made a major statement with the signing of Tomas. Ray Lane feels like they are heading in the right direction, and quickly. It won’t be the last move for the new front office brass in Arizona but it could be the move that makes the most impact in the future of the franchise.