This week, the Kansas City Royals signed outfielder Lane Thomas to a one-year, $5.25 million contract. Thomas joins the Royals after spending the last year and a half with the Cleveland Guardians. The Royals are hoping the right-handed hitting outfielder who hit 28 home runs in a season as recently as 2023, can bounce back after an injury-riddled year in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The voices in my head have been going back and forth about this move. Initially, I hated it. The more I thought about it, the more I hated it. Then I thought about it more, and I didn\u2019t hate it so much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s a weird time inside my head, so I decided to let Pro and Con duke it out on here to help me determine my final, true feelings about the deal. Let\u2019s check in. I\u2019ll give Pro the floor first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Pro<\/strong>: The Royals desperately needed to upgrade their outfield going into\u2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: You call Lane Thomas an upgrade? The guy who slashed .160\/.246\/.272 last year?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: Well, you\u2019re leaving out some key parts, mainly that he was hurt most of last year and appeared in only 39 games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: Great, so he\u2019s now 30 years old, and he\u2019s been battling injuries. Sounds like a solid signing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: The deal isn\u2019t onerous at all. It\u2019s only for one year, and it\u2019s pretty cheap.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: It might be cheap, but when you look at it with the rest of this team\u2019s contracts and you start to see some pretty questionable deals. Just over $5 million for Thomas, $8 million for Jonathan India, and then\u2014what?\u2014$12.5 million for a 36-year-old catcher?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: Salvador Perez is the face of the franchise, and you\u2019re talking $25.5 million, or so, for three bats. That\u2019s not a bad way to spread around funds instead of paying all of that\u2014and more\u2014for a first baseman\/designated hitter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: I assume you\u2019re talking about Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, and I agree with you on that much, at least. It would have been foolhardy for a team with numerous first-base-designated-hitter types to after another and pay at least $30 million for it. But this money could have been used differently. And by \u201cdifferently\u201d I mean better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: Alright, but if not Lane Thomas, then who? That\u2019s always something that gets overlooked. If not this player, then what player? The free-agent market is thin, and there aren\u2019t exactly a lot of players out there who would move the needle for any<\/em> team, let alone the Royals. And Thomas only signed for one year. If it goes poorly, it\u2019s off the books this time next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: I\u2019ll go in reverse of your statements you just made and state that I find your argument of \u201cit\u2019s only for one year, so what\u2019s the harm?\u201d ludicrous. The harm is that this is another of the guaranteed years in which the Royals have Bobby Witt Jr. under club control. Taking a flier on a guy who posted -0.6 bWAR in only 39 games doesn\u2019t seem like the best way to spend one of those years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: He could return to his 2023 form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: Sure, he could<\/em>. And while he played well that year, it was his career year, and now he\u2019s older and less healthy. Plus, he still struck out a ton in 2023\u2014176 times, to be exact\u2014while posting a poor on-base percentage. He\u2019s really only hit for the Nationals as he didn\u2019t do much for the Cardinals and stunk up Cleveland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: Guys have returned to form before.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: And even more haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: But if not him, then who? The Royals couldn\u2019t have just run this back with the same offensive group. They needed to add someone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: So you\u2019re saying just sign whoever takes your money?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: Not at all. I\u2019m saying it\u2019s a relatively cheap, low-risk deal for the Royals. And you\u2019re avoiding the question I\u2019ve asked numerous times: if not Lane Thomas, then who?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: Why not Kyle Tucker?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: He could get over $400 million on his next deal! That\u2019s why! Come one, you know the Royals would never be in on a guy like that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: Okay, then Bo Bichette.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: While that\u2019s more realistic, with the India re-signing, it\u2019s hard for me to think they would make that deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Con<\/strong>: That\u2019s a terrible thought process. Move India to the outfield. Or, better yet, the bench.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pro<\/strong>: Might not be a great way to think, but for a small-market team like the Royals, it\u2019s the truth. Focus on the outfield. A real<\/em> outfielder, not sticking someone like India out there again. Forget about Marcell Ozuna, forget about Kyle Tucker, and probably forget about Cody Bellinger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n