26946
by joez
Knowing how much the organization treasures its prospects, it could not have been an easy trade to make. Still to let Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline pass without doing something to help this team would have been a mistake.
This has been a shockingly good season by the first-place Guardians. An out-of-nowhere season to be honest. But over the last three weeks, it’s been clear that the offense, as productive as it was in April, May and June, needed help for the stretch run.
The acquisition of Lane is the kind of move the Guards needed to make. Many of their primary hitters -- Steven Kwan, Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez -- are left-handed. Frequently used reserves Will Brennan, Bo Naylor and Daniel Schneemann also swing from the left side of the plate.
The right-handed hitting Thomas will not only balance the lineup, but add speed and power. He hit 17 homers in 2022 and 28 in 2023 along with 20 stolen bases.
This year he’s hitting .253 (76 for 300) with 16 doubles, eight homers and 40 RBI. He’s stolen 28 bases and been caught a Major-League high 12 times. Which means he should fit in nicely with the Guardians sometimes overly aggressive running attack.
Lane has played in only 77 games this year after missing over a month with a sprained MCL in his left knee. He was injured stealing a base on April 23 and didn’t return to the active roster until May 27.
Originally drafted by the Blue Jays in the fifth round in 2014, Lane, 28, didn’t make his big league debut until 2019 with the Cardinals. The Blue traded him to St. Louis in 2017 and the Cardinals sent him to Washington at the deadline in 2021 for Jon Lester.
Lane has played all three outfield positions, but has spent most of his time in right field. The Guardians have used nine different players in right field this season -- Gabriel Arias, Will Brennan, Estevan Florial, David Fry, Ramon Laureano, Angel Martinez, Jhonkensy Noel, Johnathan Rodriguez and Daniel Schneemann. Brennan has spent the most time out there, starting 50 games, but recently he’s lost playing time to Noel.
Guardians right fielders, through 105 games, are hitting .210 (75 for 357) with 13 homers and 40 RBI. The .210 batting average is the second lowest in the big leagues.
Rookie manager Stephen Vogt likes to keep all his position players involved, but Lane should be to stabilize right field.
Lane’s acquisition won’t break the bank. He’s making $2.2 million this year and the Guardians have one more year of control over him in 2025.
The deal is similar to Cleveland’s trade for Jay Bruce during the 2017 season. They acquired the veteran outfielder from the Mets in August when MLB had what amounted to a second trade deadline. Bruce helped the Guardians win 102 games that year.
Here’s what the Guardians gave up for Lane:
Tena: He made his big league debut last year and has played four games with the G’s this year. In 90 games at Class AAA Columbus, he’s hitting .298 (110 for 367) with 17 doubles, 17 homers and 90 RBI.
Ramirez: He’s hitting .187 (34 for 216) with 10 doubles, four homers and 23 RBI in 54 games at Class A Lynchburg.
Clemmey: He was the Guardians second round pick out of high school in 2023. They signed him for $2.3 million. This year at Class A Lynchburg the 6-6 left-hander was 1-4 with a 4.67 ERA in 19 starts. He struck out 92, walked 42 and allowed 53 hits in 69 1/3 innings.
The Guardians approached this year’s deadline trying to help the pitching staff, particularly the rotation, and offense. Lane should help the offense. Not to be greedy, but there’s still time to help the pitching staff as well.
If that doesn’t happen, Vogt, Carl Willis and the rest of Cleveland’s pitching group is going to have their hands full getting this rotation through the last two months of the season.
But there’s still time to make that right. For now the addition of Thomas was just what the Guardians needed on the field and in the clubhouse.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
