Cleveland was one in every of a number of contenders that had been suspiciously quiet within the hours main as much as the commerce deadline — Houston, Atlanta, Minnesota, nonetheless taking a look at you — however the Guardians get on the board with a strong pickup in Thomas. He brings a much-needed right-handed aspect to a Guardians lineup headlined by Steven Kwan, Josh Naylor and switch-hitter Jose Ramirez, and his distinctive monitor file of torching left-handed pitching ought to enhance this lineup in an actual method. He’ll be the every-day proper fielder transferring ahead and is beneath staff management for 2025, which actually heightened the prospect price to amass him.
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo had been clear when discussing a potential deal for Thomas that he wouldn’t commerce the 28-year-old outfielder for a package deal that recommended he was merely a platoon bat. He appears to have discovered a very good match with Cleveland, which actually initiatives to make use of Thomas in an every-day capability and was keen to half with three promising gamers due to that.
I like this return a good bit. Tena has gotten considerably misplaced within the shuffle of Cleveland’s deep assortment of multi-positional infielders however has carried out effectively in Triple-A and has a a lot clearer path to taking part in time in Washington, possible at third base. He makes a ton of onerous contact and now must work on elevating the ball a bit extra persistently. At simply 23, he’s a very nice hitter to construct round. Ramirez is way more of a lottery ticket however remains to be an intriguing third piece. He’s putting out a ton in Low-A, however he solely simply turned 19 and is a succesful infielder with promising uncooked elements on offense. We’ll see what the Nationals’ participant improvement group can do with him.
Clemmey may be the actual prize. A second-round select of a Rhode Island highschool a 12 months in the past, he possesses a few of the louder stuff of any left-handed pitcher within the minor leagues however must discover a method to throw sufficient strikes to maximise his unimaginable bodily capacity. Whereas his 32.6% strikeout charge in low-A ranks nineteenth amongst all minor-league arms with no less than 60 innings pitched, his 15.6% stroll charge ranks ninth-highest. That’s an apparent space for enchancment, however then once more, there are solely so many left-handers on earth who throw 98 with the type of curveball Clemmey has when he’s cooking. For a man who turned 19 earlier this month, that’s lots to dream on.