Nationals trade Lane Thomas to Cleveland Guardians for trio of prospects

After wondering for weeks about "will they or won't they," we got our answer today as the Nationals have agreed to a deal that will send Lane Thomas to the Cleveland Guardians for a trio of prospects headlined by Guardians #8 ranked prospect Alex Clemmey.

As Nationals fans well know, General Manager Mike Rizzo declined to move Lane Thomas at least year's deadline despite significant interest in what was a career year for Thomas. At that time, Thomas still had 2.5 years remaining on his contract, making the value of a return difficult to determine based on what was essentially a one-hit wonder to that point.

Now another year of data gives us a better idea of what Lane Thomas is as a player. While his numbers this season are not as good as they were at the time of last season's trade deadline, we now see that Thomas is an average MLB player with a strong arm and can crush left-handed pitching. Mike Rizzo even said as much recently, expressing his belief that Thomas was an everyday player who could hold his own against Right Handed pitching and more than just a platoon bat. Based on what the Guardians gave up to get 1.5 years of Thomas, they seem to agree.

Alex Clemmey is the headliner in the return going back to the Nationals. The Left Handed Pitcher was a 2nd round pick in 2023 out of high school for the Guardians. He has a a 70 grade fastball that sits in the mid 90s and can hit 99 mph with a 60 grade curveball to go along with it. He has developed a good slider and is working on his changeup currently, but has frontline starter potential down the road. It will take some time for Clemmey to develop as he just turned 19 years old last week. He won't be in the Majors next season like what the Nationals found with DJ Herz after acquiring him at last year's deadline, but they acquired a high quality arm for their system.

Also coming back to the Nationals are SS Rafael Ramirez and 3B Jose Tena. The Nationals get sorely needed depth at Shortstop for their system in Ramirez, who was the 22nd ranked prospect for the Guardians and a teammate of Clemmey at Single A Lynchburg, the Guardians Minor League affiliate. Ramirez also just turned 19 years old last week, so he will also need some time to develop but is the son of a former Major League All Star of the same name and possesses a high baseball IQ. Tena was unranked in the Guardians system, but follows a theme of acquiring 3B/INF prospects after the Nationals previously acquired Cayden Wallace from the Royals in a trade for Hunter Harvey earlier this month. Tena is currently in AAA for Cleveland and is hitting .298 with an .846 OPS. Given Trey Lipscomb's offensive struggles following the release of starting 3B Nick Senzel, the Nationals may try out Tena at Third Base now that they have open 40 man spots on their roster.

Trading Hunter Harvey showed the Nationals were willing to sell. Trading Lane Thomas shows the Nationals are definitely selling. Thomas marks the third trade already for the Nationals as they traded Jesse Winker to the Mets over the weekend. We have seen Mike Rizzo sell some before, but this may be the biggest sale yet in terms of the number of deals made.

Lane Thomas will always be a local legend in DC, as he was initially acquired for a much over-the-hill Jon Lester after being cast out of St. Louis. Thomas thrived in DC, establishing himself as a quality Major Leaguer in his time with the team. Now on to a new chapter, if Clemmey or any of these other prospects the Nationals got in return make an impact, the legend of Lane Thomas will only grow.