KANSAS CITY -- Seeking an outfielder who can hit lefties well and play all three spots on the grass, the Royals signed a one-year contract with veteran outfielder Lane Thomas on Wednesday.
The deal, sources told MLB.com, is worth $5.25 million with $1 million in performance incentives. Thomas passed his physical this week, allowing the Royals to announce the move and officially add Thomas to what is now a full 40-man roster.
“Going back to the beginning of the offseason, I think we were pretty clear that we needed to address our outfield,” general manager J.J. Picollo said Thursday. “The more we had our meetings, the more we dove into things, the more we talked about what players fit us well, right-handed became very apparent to us. And then versatility. Somebody who could play all three outfield spots, and more importantly, take time in center field. We went through several meetings with our pro personnel department [and] our front office, and we kept coming back to Lane.”
The 30-year-old Thomas is a buy-low bounceback candidate and a right-handed hitter who can play center field. Across his seven-year big league career with the Cardinals, Nationals and most recently the Guardians, Thomas has a .242/.309/.418 slash line. He has hit left-handed pitchers particularly well, with a .292/.359/.500 career slash line. As the Royals project Kyle Isbel in center field and Jac Caglianone in right -- both left-handed hitters -- Thomas is an option to turn to against tough lefties.
Thomas is a bounceback candidate because of his health. He was limited to 39 games and 125 at-bats for the Guardians, first dealing with a right wrist bone bruise and then a lingering case of plantar fasciitis that required surgery in September. When he did play, Thomas batted just .160 with a .518 OPS.
“It was tough, man,” Thomas said. “I had three separate [injured list] stints. … Not that that’s the reason I struggled, I don’t mean that, but it’s definitely hard to get in a rhythm when you’re fighting yourself instead of trying to 'fight' against the other team.”
Thomas expects to be fully ready at the beginning of Spring Training, as he’s now participating in all baseball activity outside of full-on sprints. The physical he passed cleared any lingering concern the Royals might have had, which was fairly minimal, Picollo said, because of the communication with Thomas and his agent throughout the process.
Thomas joined the Guardians in a Trade Deadline deal in 2024 -- the Royals expressed interest in adding him then, too -- and the outfielder really turned it on in September and the postseason that year.
But the biggest question, beyond his health, is whether Thomas can recapture the form he showed in 2023, when he hit 28 homers and stole 20 bases for Washington, to go with a .783 OPS and 3.3 WAR (per Baseball Reference). If he performs like that, Thomas will play more than just against lefties -- he’ll play every day. The Royals can find at-bats for him, and that was valuable to Thomas.
“Any player in my situation knows that,” Thomas said. “I’m coming off a year where I barely played, coming off an injury, and I know that I can still play every day and play up to what I have in the past. So it was attractive. A couple of months in, if I’m not pulling my weight, I understand. But I think we’ll be in a good spot. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
Defensively, Thomas has seen time at all three outfield positions, including 276 starts in right field and 170 in center. In his last full season in 2024, he showed limited range (-8 Outs Above Average, third percentile) but an elite arm (95th percentile arm strength). Thomas has a speed component in his game, registering a 94th-percentile sprint speed in limited time in '25 and 71 career stolen bases.
With Thomas on board and Isaac Collins joining in a trade on Sunday, the Royals have added two new outfielders this winter. They’ve also kept enough room for Caglianone, their 22-year-old former top prospect, to improve at the big league level. But that does not necessarily mean Kansas City's offseason is complete. The club is still searching for other outfielders to add, knowing that Collins can jump positions and play second base if needed.
“I think we’re always going to look to add talent to our team,” Picollo said. “... If the right deal falls in place, we do still have an opportunity to get somebody that would also play in the outfield, but that’s because Collins’ versatility allows us to do that. Whether or not that happens, we feel a lot better with Lane and Isaac here now than we did a week ago. We feel great about it. We’re not in a position where we have to force anything. We like our team the way it is right now. If that opportunity comes along, we just have to weigh the pros and cons of it.”