Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats trade Lane Thomas to Guardians ahead of today’s Trade Deadline…

First it was Jesse Winker, now it’s Lane Thomas. GM Mike Rizzo is dealing for the future…

“There are a lot of teams that would really benefit from getting Lane Thomas,” Nationals’ GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo told reporters earlier this month when asked if the club would consider dealing their 28-year-old outfielder at the Trade Deadline this year.

Thomas was acquired by Washington at the deadline in 2021, and in four season in D.C., he put up a combined .257/.320/.439 line with 92 doubles and 60 home runs in 424 games as a National.

“He’s got as good an arm as anybody in right field,” Rizzo added.

“He throws out a lot of guys. He’s got power, he hits left-handed pitching, and he’s good against righties.

“We’re going to do a deal that we’re comfortable with. And if [we’re not], we won’t do a deal.”

On Monday night, as the club prepared for a series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Rizzo and Co. in the front office found a deal they were comfortable with, and traded Thomas to Cleveland’s Guardians in return for lefty Alex Clemmey, 19, infielder José Tena, 23, and 19-year-old infielder Rafael Ramirez Jr.

Clemmey, the Nationals noted in a press release on the deal, was ranked as the No. 7 overall prospect in the Guardians’ organization according to Baseball America, and No. 8 on the list compiled by MLB’s Pipeline scouts. He was a 2023 2nd Round pick by Cleveland.

“The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Clemmey,” the Nats highlighted, “… has pitched to a 2.28 ERA (11 ER/43.1 IP) with 63 strikeouts, a 1.18 WHIP, a .185 opponents’ average and just two home runs allowed in his last 11 starts since May 24.”

Kris Craig/The Providence Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tena (pronounced tey-NAH), signed with the Guardians as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and before the deal, he led, “Cleveland’s Minor League system with 110 hits, and rank[ed] in home runs (2^nd, 17), RBI (3^rd, 63), extra-base hits (4^th, 36), batting average (4^th, .298), slugging percentage (6^th, .493) and OPS (6^th, .846).”

“Ramirez Jr., “… is the Guardians No. 20 prospect per Baseball America and their No. 23 prospect per MLBPipeline.com.” He signed as non-drafted free agent in 2022. So far in 2024, he, “has 10 doubles, a triple, [and] four homers to go along with 30 walks, seven stolen bases and 23 runs scored.

“He’s hitting .187 with a .301 on-base percentage and a .319 slugging percentage in 54 games.”

Martinez didn’t know what the return would be when he spoke with reporters before the start of the Nationals’ series with the D-backs in Arizona last night (a 9-8 walk-off loss for Kyle Finnegan and the team), but he talked at length about Thomas, and what he meant both to the manager, and his teammates during his time in the nation’s capital.

“Cleveland’s going to get a really good player. I wish him all the best. He was sad, because like I said, we built a really strong relationship, he gets along with everybody in there, but I told him,” Martinez said, “I said, ‘You’ve got an opportunity to help them get to the playoffs and do something special. This is a start to a new beginning.”

Since they acquired him from the Cardinals (straight up for Jon Lester), Thomas made big strides, and put in the work to get better at the plate and in the field.

“He put the work in,” Martinez said. “I challenged him a lot about how to play the game and how to play the game consistently.

“He’s been good. He’s been good on the field, off the field … [and] he’s one of the guys that I count on to show up every day and do what he does.”

“It’s always a little bit of a shock,” Thomas said when he spoke with reporters in Arizona in advance of the series opener about being traded for the third time in his career, “… even when you know they’re looking to do something like that.

“But yeah, I’ve been in this situation before, so I feel like that makes it a little bit easier. My wife has dealt with it, too. So I think we’re ready to go help another team.”

Thomas joined the Nationals at the start of their organizational reboot, and produced during some rough seasons, but now he’s headed to a new team just as what they’ve built in D.C. is starting to take shape.

“I’ve always said that to you guys, that it would be fun to see this thing through with a lot of these young guys,” Thomas said. “But, man, they’re going to be fine. With the talent you’ve seen from James [Wood], and CJ [Abrams], and MacKenzie [Gore] and all these guys that are still so young and have so much time to improve … it’ll be fun to watch. I’ll be rooting for them, for sure.”

“I hope our return will come here and help us [and] be part of the future here, so that’s all we can ask,” Martinez said.

Is Rizzo done dealing? Kyle Finnegan giving up a five-spot in the ninth last night was poorly-timed with the closer another potential candidate for a trade before today’s deadline (6:00 PM ET). Will Finnegan still be a National when the second game of three with the D-backs is set to start?