The Washington Nationals dealt Lane Thomas to the Cleveland Guardians for three prospects Monday, shortly before a 9-8 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, moving the 28-year-old outfielder one day before the MLB trade deadline.
Cleveland sent infielders José Tena and Rafael Ramirez Jr. to Washington along with left-hander Alex Clemmey.
During his time in Washington, Thomas established himself as an everyday big leaguer and a clubhouse leader for the Nationals, who played at Arizona on Monday night. He arrived in 2021, early in the franchise’s rebuild. He departs this summer with Washington in a much different place, with its young arms showing promise and some of its budding prospects starting to emerge.
“Hopefully the guys that I’ve played behind trusted me to play out there in right field and earned the trust of the coaches over time,” Thomas said. “That’s what I’m proud of. I’ve been in the lineup for the last two years straight and showed up every day.”
Manager Dave Martinez informed Thomas ahead of Monday’s game that he was being traded. Then, players gathered around Martinez’s office. Before Thomas departed, he hugged the Nationals’ relievers as they were warming up on the field.
“I don’t necessarily have any favorites,” Martinez said. “But he’s one of the guys that I could count on to show up every day and do what he does.”
Shortly after the deal was announced, the Nationals rode a five-run first to an early lead, getting five strong innings out of Mitchell Parker. Alex Call, called up Sunday to replace the traded Jesse Winker, filled in for Thomas in right field and delivered the big blow in the inning, blasting a three-run homer off Jordan Montgomery. Every Nationals starter recorded a hit.
But in the ninth inning, Kyle Finnegan — who could be traded before Tuesday’s deadline — allowed five runs. Corbin Carroll pinch-hit and blasted a game-winning, two-run homer.
Thomas said the trade came as a shock, even though he knew it was possible. He said he was excited to join the American League pennant race and sees a lot of similarities between the Guardians and Nationals. But Thomas was proud of what he and the team accomplished during his time in Washington.
Thomas blossomed from a fringe major leaguer into an everyday outfielder and a clubhouse leader as a young team matured with him as a pillar.
“I’ve always said that it would be fun to see this thing through with a lot of these young guys,” Thomas said. “The talent you see from James [Wood], CJ [Abrams] and MacKenzie [Gore], all these guys that are still so young and have so much time to improve, it’ll be fun to watch. I’ll be rooting for them.”
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