Royals To Sign Lane Thomas

The Royals and outfielder Lane Thomas are in agreement on a one-year deal. The Wasserman clients $5.25MM with another $1MM available via incentives. Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported that the two sides were in agreement. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the financial details. Kansas City has a couple of open 40-man spots and won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Thomas and the Royals will be looking for a bounceback season, as he just suffered through an injury-marred 2025 campaign. Early in the season, he missed about a month due to a right wrist bone bruise. In the latter months of the season, he went on the injured list a couple of times due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He required surgery in September with a projected recovery time of three to four months. Around those IL stints, he got into 39 games and hit just .160/.246/.272.

Prior to that, he had a solid run as a decent regular in the bigs. From 2021 to 2024, he got into 510 contests, hitting 67 home runs and stealing 66 bases. He produced a .248/.313/.426 line over that four-year span, which translated to a 103 wRC+.

He was slightly better in the second half of that stretch. Over 2023 and 2024, he hit 43 home runs and stole 52 bases. His combined .255/.312/.439 line in those two seasons translated to a 105 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 4.3 wins above replacement, a bit better than two wins per year.

His defense has been more of a question mark. Outs Above Average has given him a minus-16 ranking for his career, but oddly considered him league average in center and subpar in the corners. Defensive Runs Saved has put a minus-18 mark on him, but most of that due to an odd minus-13 grade in 2024 alone.

He clearly has some wheels, as his sprint speed has been ranked in the 93rd percentile or above since he became a regular. With a bit of pop in the bat as well, he has been able to engineer some decent results when healthy.

More to come.