The Royals are signing former Cleveland Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas to a 1-year, $5.25M deal according to Will Sammon and Mark Feinsand. The deal includes $1M in incentives as well.
Thomas is a 30-year-old,
right-handed outfielder who has spent most of his defensive innings in center field and right field. He has bounced around during his time in MLB; he has played for St. Louis, Washington, and Cleveland.
Across his whole career, he is a .242/.309/.418 (99 wRC+) hitter who makes up for a higher strikeout rate with power and good baserunning. He is an obvious platoon partner for Jac Caglianone, as Thomas has crushed left-handed pitching in his career for a 135 wRC+, but he is not helpless against righties with a career 84 wRC+.
For his career, the defensive metrics seem to think he’s a better center fielder than right fielder, which doesn’t make that much sense to me but whatever. He’s not a particularly strong outfielder in either position, so his bat and speed will need to carry him.
Thomas is an obvious bounceback candidate. He suffered from multiple injuries last season on the way to a paltry 48 wRC+ (.160/.246/.272 line). If you exclude last season, he hit .247/.313/.428 for everything else. Not bad…just slightly above average.
I think it’s a bit unfortunate that Yaz decided to sign with the Braves, but the Royals were clearly intent on upgrading the outfield. They’ve repeatedly stated their desire to improve via free agency and trade both. In the price range the Royals play in, they were never going to sign Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger (though I’m sure they *could*). Thomas fits as a right-handed outfielder with some pop who doesn’t have to be completely hidden in a platoon, and he doesn’t break the (full) bank.
It’s not a splashy move, but it does help fill out the organization with major league quality outfielders, which the Royals sorely lacked last season. They had *checks notes* -1.1 fWAR in the outfield with a .225/.285/.348 line for a 73 wRC+. Upgrades don’t always have to be the best, top-of-market guys. Competence goes a long way.
Assuming the Royals will continue to examine the trade market for outfield upgrades, more may be coming, possibly in left field given Isbel/Thomas/Caglianone.
