39 games, -0.5 fWAR, 48 wRC+.
Not the production you want to put up in a contract year.
Lane had, by every measure, a horrible year. A nagging injury to his right foot kept him out of action for the majority of the year. And when he played, he was awful.
Among all 18 Guardians players with at least 300 PAs since 2024, Lane Thomas ranks 17th in wRC+ and 15th in fWAR. While his performance in the 2024 postseason certainly ameliorates the downright horrible stint he had in Cleveland, he’s been largely
a ghost outside of October. The Guardians brought him in at the 2024 deadline to be their go-to RHH outfielder. He had a 90 wRC+ against LHP during his time in Cleveland. That does rank 8th on the team over that span, for what it’s worth.
It’s very difficult to examine his career in Cleveland — and harder to determine whether he’s worth a 1-year deal to come back to Cleveland in 2026. For one, it’s not totally unheard of for players to struggle in their first extended stint with a new team. Devers struggled with the Giants, Adames struggled in the first half with the Giants, Eugenio Suarez was horrible with the Mariners, Juan Soto was bad (respectively, and despite peripherals that suggested he was getting unlucky) with the Mets, Francisco Lindor was bad with the Mets in his first year. Like I said, it’s not unusual for a player to struggle after being traded to (or signing with) a new team. It’s also not unheard of for players to experience career-worst offensive numbers when they come to Cleveland. Mike Zunino, Ramon Laureano, Carlos Santana, Lane Thomas. Ramon Laureano put up the worst stretch of baseball in his career during his time in Cleveland, and then immediately broke out after being picked up by the Braves, signed by the Orioles, and traded to the Padres. It’s hard to seriously evaluate a hitter’s worth, in Cleveland, because there is so much history of players being, let’s be honest, ruined by the Guardians’ hitting coaches. That could be different now, considering the promotion of Grant Fink and Junior Betances to the major league hitting staff.
I, at least, would certainly not find it amusing if he were picked up by another team only to immediately go back to the ~100 wRC+ hitter he’s been outside of Cleveland. The Guardians absolutely could use the help of the pre-Cleveland version of Lane Thomas the team traded for. He fills, if only partially, the biggest need the Guardians have this offseason: a RHH outfielder. With LHH’s C.J. Kayfus, George Valera, Chase Delauter, Daniel Schneemann, and Steven Kwan set to be the Guardians’ only serious outfield options, the addition of Lane Thomas would help balance that out. The 2026 Guardians will almost certainly need a hitter with his profile — a power-hitting RHH outfielder.
Because of all of that, I think the Guardians should absolutely try to bring him back on a low-risk one-year deal for 2026. If it doesn’t work? DFA him. Obviously, he should not be the only addition to next year’s offense, but that goes without saying. If he’s at 100%, he’s a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat against left-handed pitching. The Guardians, as we know, need as many of those as possible.
