The Cleveland Guardians are back to square one in center field.
Lane Thomas won’t be returning to help solve their outfield puzzle. He signed a one-year, $5.25 million deal with the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
It’s a bit of salt in the wound that Thomas landed with an AL Central rival after spending a season-and-a-half in Cleveland.
The Guardians originally traded for Thomas at the 2024 deadline, bringing him over from the Nationals as what looked like a solid upgrade in center. That first stint showed promise – he hit .209 with 10 doubles and seven homers across 53 games, plus brought his usual steady glove and strong arm to the outfield.
But 2025 was a different story entirely.
Thomas never found his rhythm and dealt with a couple different injuries that limited him to just 39 games. His .160 batting average tells you everything about how that went.
Kansas City’s clearly betting on the player Thomas was in Washington rather than what they saw last season. Over four years with the Nationals, he put up a .257 average with a .759 OPS and was especially tough on left-handed pitching.
Now Thomas gets to face his former team plenty in 2026 – not necessarily with any hard feelings, but there’s definitely going to be some familiarity when those matchups come around.
Back to the Drawing Board
For Cleveland, this means they’re still searching for answers in center field. It wasn’t entirely clear Thomas was coming back anyway, but now it’s official – they need to look elsewhere.
The Guardians have some internal options to consider, but Thomas’s departure to a division rival certainly doesn’t make their offseason any easier. They’ll need to get creative, whether that means exploring the trade market or giving someone else a shot at the position.
What makes this trickier is that center field remains one of the more demanding positions both defensively and in terms of finding quality depth. The Guardians proved they can compete without a superstar there, but they’ll need someone reliable.
