Huge Rizz Cashes In On Lane Thomas

Across the time of the Austin Hays commerce final week, Chelsea Janes of The Washington Publish reported that regardless that Hays and Lane Thomas have been each greatest suited to a platoon nook position on a contender, the Nationals have been decided to promote Thomas provided that a suitor have been keen to pay a starter’s return for him.

“Good luck,” I assumed to myself. Thomas is an efficient participant — a 3.1 WAR man with 28 homers final 12 months. This season, he’s almost doubled his stroll charge and has 28 stolen bases. That’s the third-most in baseball, greater than Corbin Carroll and Byron Buxton put collectively. Thomas is on his second straight season of a wRC+ bumping up in opposition to 110 — this can be a good participant. Nevertheless it’s additionally a man who’s hitting .224/.299/.364 in opposition to right-handed pitching, which is a lot of the pitchers within the league.

Properly, we have now not as a result of we ask not. Nats GM Mike Rizzo had a weekend to play with earlier than the deadline, and it solely takes one staff to fulfill his worth. And I’ll be darned, Huge Rizz truly pulled it off.

On Monday night time, Washington despatched Thomas to Cleveland for a bumper crop of prospects: Left-hander Alex Clemmey and infielders José Tena and Rafael Ramirez Jr.

It’s, to be frank, a whole lot of prospect freight. Washington did very effectively on this deal. Nevertheless it’s not an irrational overpay for the Guardians — we’re not utterly out of the period of 1 staff getting hosed in a commerce (I don’t know what the Astros have been considering giving up that a lot for Yusei Kikuchi, for example), however the rising professionalism of the entrance workplace, together with ideological convergence, has rendered the Frank Robinson-for-Milt Pappas deal rarer than it was once.

No, that is extra alongside the strains of the Guardians getting a participant they want, however perhaps paying a bit an excessive amount of to take action. As a result of Thomas actually does assist Cleveland out.

Courting again a few decade, even when Cleveland was contending for the pennant yearly, offense has historically not been a power for this franchise. And certain sufficient, that continues to be the case in 2024. Cleveland is 14th within the league in staff wRC+ at 101, which is common. However among the many six groups that got here into deadline day with 60 or extra wins, they’re sixth in offense. Three of these groups — the Yankees, Dodgers, and Orioles — are first, second, and third in wRC+ at 119, 118, and 117.

Cleveland has truly hit lefties higher than righties this season, however this lineup, which incorporates Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan, and the Naylor brothers, can get a bit lefty-heavy. Thomas counterbalances that, and provides Stephen Vogt both a devastating platoon bat or a median on a regular basis starter at a place the place he’d beforehand been unable to search out both.

The Guardians are twelfth this season in outfield wRC+, which is usually an artifact of Kwan having a killer 12 months in left. The Guardians have used 9 completely different beginning proper fielders this season, and their total proper discipline wRC+ has been simply 86. That’s purported to be an influence place, and this first-place staff is getting outhit by Jose Siri. One thing needed to be finished. And whereas Randy Arozarena — to call one other nook man who simply acquired dealt — would’ve been extra enjoyable, he and Thomas have been nearly precisely equally precious because the begin of 2023:

The rationale for making this commerce for Cleveland comes all the way down to this: The Guardians are in pole place for the highest seed within the AL, and everybody of their bracket has some weak point that might show deadly come October. That doesn’t occur yearly for anybody, particularly not a staff with a rookie supervisor and one of many 5 smallest Opening Day payrolls within the league. The long run is now. The time to make a transfer is now. The Orioles and Yankees have each traded accordingly, and it’s good that the Guardians are following swimsuit. They will determine the prospect aspect later.

Plus, Thomas isn’t a rental. He’s below staff management by way of 2025, which implies that Cleveland — not like Dave Rygalski from Gilmore Ladies — can maintain on to Lane for multiple season.

And so they’d higher maintain on to him, as a result of, like I stated, they gave up so much.

Longtime readers of my work would possibly bear in mind the identify Alex Clemmey — a 12 months in the past, he was one of many headliners of my piece on draft prospects from cold-weather states. Again then, he was a giant, lanky (6-foot-6, 205 kilos) 17-year-old lefty from Rhode Island, whom the Guardians purchased out of a dedication to Vanderbilt with a $2.3 million signing bonus within the second spherical. Now, Clemmey is nineteen (his birthday was two weeks in the past, many joyful returns), and simply as big and left-handed and hard-throwing as ever: mid-90s on the fastball with a low-80s slider that he’s thrown extra persistently within the execs than in highschool.

Clemmey is in A-ball in his first full professional season, and in 19 begins, he’s placing out 32.6% of opponents and strolling 15.8%. Each of these are massive numbers, however once more, this can be a teenager with levers so lengthy Archimedes might transfer the world with them. He’s not anticipated to throw strikes. In his précis on Clemmey, Eric Longenhagen name-dropped one other big left-hander, A.J. Puk. When Puk was Clemmey’s age, he couldn’t crack the weekend rotation on the College of Florida. By the point he was 21, he was (in my estimation on the time) the perfect faculty pitcher within the nation.

I checked out Puk, as a Gator, and noticed the potential for him to grow to be the ginger CC Sabathia. That clearly didn’t occur, however for all of the accidents and command issues, Puk continues to be a precious high-leverage reliever. It’s sort of the identical story for Clemmey. He’s acquired the stuff you possibly can’t train: Lefty velo, athleticism, dimension. If he can refine the remainder of his sport over the following three or 4 seasons, he could possibly be a particular starter. However even when he doesn’t get all the best way there, he nonetheless figures to be an efficient main league reliever.

Tena is a superb get for Washington as a result of he’s somebody who’s much less helpful to Cleveland than nearly another staff in baseball. He’s a 23-year-old spark plug who can play second and third base, two positions the place the Guardians are a number of years away from needing somebody to fill the place. (I bear in mind doing a radio hit in Cleveland earlier than the draft, and the hosts requested the place Cleveland might presumably play Travis Bazzana if he went 1-1. That’s how set the Guardians are.)

Regardless of his youth, Tena is in his final possibility 12 months, so the Guardians have been going to have to maneuver him it doesn’t matter what. Even at 5-foot-9, Tena has a power-over-hit offensive profile. He has nice bat pace and pull energy for a left-handed-hitting infielder, with 17 house runs in 90 video games at Triple-A this season. However even for a man who’s leaning on the underside of hitting .300 within the excessive minors, it’s a whole lot of chase and a whole lot of swing-and-miss. He’s placing out 25.2% of the time in Triple-A, and in 38 profession main league plate appearances, he has simply seven hits and 15 strikeouts. Nonetheless, there’s the potential for a strong massive league second baseman if he can in the reduction of on chasing exterior the zone a bit. As a secondary piece in a commerce like this, that’s a coup.

Ramirez, a 19-year-old New Jerseyan (he additionally simply had a birthday), is the third and closing participant going again to the Nationals. He’s one other left-handed-hitting infielder with strikeout points, however that has completely different connotations for a participant like Tena, who’s principally big-league-ready, than an adolescent who’s hitting .187 in Low-A and has some questions on his protection at brief. This can be a buy-low man, as a result of Ramirez had nice persistence and energy on the complicated final 12 months and drew constructive critiques in spring coaching, however the 2024 common season has been a battle. The truth that there’s any potential this deep into the commerce speaks to how effectively Washington did, but it surely’s unlikely that an adolescent with these sorts of contact points goes to entry it.

Trades like this make the world go ‘spherical. A primary-place staff will get a crucial improve, and perhaps the three prospects they traded to get him — two of them 19-year-olds — gained’t quantity to a lot. Both method, none of those guys was serving to Cleveland recover from the hump this 12 months. However as a result of the Guardians are in win-now mode, a rebuilding staff, the Nationals, was capable of swoop in and pilfer a bumper crop of younger expertise for a participant who didn’t match their timeline anyway. A helpful commerce for Cleveland, however a bonanza for Washington. I’m sorry, Mike Rizzo, I ought to by no means have doubted you.