Giants reportedly a frontrunner for Yasmany Tomas

It takes one paragraph for us nerds to get excited these days. Are you ready for this paragraph? It's from Peter Gammons, and it's an intriguing paragraph. Look at this danged paragraph:

There will be at least two dozen teams represented this weekend at the Giants’ complex in the Dominican Republic to see slugging Cuban outfielder Yasmani Tomas. "He’s a pure power guy, a really good hitter," says one international scouting director. 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.

The first time I read that, I saw that the Giants were the early favorites and that they stood alone. The second time I read it, I realized the Phillies, Padres, Rangers, and Tigers were also co-favorites. The third time I read it, I started to wonder if the Giants were going to be ticked off at being runners up to both Abreu and Castillo, and if they're going to give this thing the full Zito. The fourth time I read it, I started getting annoyed at the existence of the Padres. Not in this rumor, but in an existential kind of way. The fifth time ...

There are only so many ways to say "The Giants should sign this guy, but only if he's good!" Trust me, I'm currently at 4,832 different ways, including typos, and I'm out. Done. No idea if he's good, and his swing-and-miss is strong enough to freak me out. Yet I'm excited about him. Go figure.

The catch: There probably is no Yasmani Tomas and Pablo Sandoval, which means the Giants would have to make a choice. I'd prefer the hacker we know instead of the hacker we don't. Allow me to sully this fine website with a rare "Family Guy" quote.

Now hold on, Lois! A boat's a boat, but the Mystery Box could be anything! It could even be a boat!

Oh, shut up. The show has its moments.

In this scenario, Sandoval is the boat. Tomas is the mystery box. You might get a Sandoval! You might also get one of the 100 hitters in the world as good as Sandoval or better. The odds seem like they're against that, though, even if you've had scouts shaking the box and running tests on it.

I also think Sandoval will get a lot more money than Tomas for this very reason, and that makes me uncomfortable and pushes me back toward Tomas. I love Pablo, but I don't want a seven-year-deal for the old bean. If the Giants can get Tomas on a deal that's closer to Rusney Castillo, in years if not money, that's a strong contender.

The willingness to add Abreu and Castillo for non-bargain prices, though, means something. Until the Giants actually sign one of these guys, it doesn't mean that much, but I'm getting curious about how much money they're willing to spend on a player they're in love with. Which is a long way to ask ourselves what the Giants will be paying Jon Lester in 2020.

The Giants just missed out on the AL Rookie of the Year. They just missed out on Castillo, who is either like Rajai Davis or Andrew McCutchen. Unless they're just stringing us along, I'm starting to get that tingling in my toenails that I did before the GIants locked Barry Zito up. I have a feeling the Giants are going to sign this guy to a goofy contract, which guarantees more Angel Pagan in center, which still leaves a panda-sized hole at third base. It's alternately thrilling and horrifying.

Yeah, the idea of a highly paid Tomas is kind of like a wasabi-flavored Kit Kat bar. I have no idea what it tastes like, yet I'm desperate to find out, even if it's prohibitively expensive and probably not worth it for me.

Promise you'll be here for me, and promise to come back here in three years and laugh at this post once we realize that Tomas is either Yasiel Puig or Dayan Viciedo. In the meantime, the Giants are one of the frontrunners, apparently. Well, Ill be.