Guardians Trade for Lane Thomas from the Nationals

Give up a sizeable prospect haul, too!

The Guardians traded right-handed pitcher Alex Clemmey, left-handed infielder Jose Tena and left-handed infielder Rafael Ramirez for Lane Thomas right-handed outfielder from the Washington Nationals.

Thomas is under team control through 2025, on an arbitration deal.

I am a bit surprised they would give up Clemmey for Thomas, but Thomas meets a need for another hitter who crushes left-handed pitching as teams repeatedly attempt to neutralize the Guardians with southpaws. Thomas has a career 142 wRC+ vs LHP. He is around 90 wRC+ which isn't ideal but is playable with the threat of him facing a lefty in play.

He is not a particularly good defender in the outfield. He dealt with a knee injury earlier this season after a slow start in April, but since returning on May 27th, he has a 136 wRC+. He has a he is running the highest launch angle and fly ball rates of his career and pulling the ball at a 40% rate, as well.

As you can see, he has good speed and a great arm, so I wonder if the Guardians’ think outfield coach JT Maguire can work a little magic to help Thomas do a little bit more with his physical tools in right field.

Thomas has the highest stolen base total of his career already (28) and the highest xwOBA of his career .336. He has 2.7 Baserunning Runs Above Average and can hopefully help an, overall, poor baserunning team in the Guardians improve. I wonder if an intangible value can be the pressure Thomas is putting on catchers and pitchers when he gets on base as a constant threat to steal.

I suspect that Thomas will get reps in right field and at designated hitter. I’m not sure I’m ready to see him in centerfield, but that is a possibility. I wonder if Tyler Freeman is sent to Columbus with Angel Martinez being the full-time option in center. Either way, I am glad the Guardians organization has chosen to support the excellent performance of this club with a bat to lengthen the lineup. Here’s Chris Antonetti on the trade:

Entering the season, 19 year-old Alex Clemmey was ranked 8th on Cleveland’s top prospect list by MLB Pipeline, 19 year-old Rafael Ramirez Jr was 22nd, and Jose Tena was unranked but had a 116 wRC+ in Triple-A as a 23 year old. I suspect Pipeline would have Clemmey around 5th in the Guardians’ system right now, so I think that Nationals fans should feel good about that return. Ramirez seems unlikely to become a major league talent; Tena is more than capable of being a major league utility player right now. But, for Guardians fans concerned about losing Clemmey, just remember:

T.here I.s N.o S.uch T.hing A.s A P.itching P.rospect.

Welcome to the Guardians, Lane Thomas! Be New and Improved Brandon Guyer 2.0 but let’s get the World Series title this time.