Five Best Trade Fits for Guardians Outfielder Lane Thomas

Pittsburgh Pirates

Then there’s the Pirates, whose window of contention seems to be as open as it’s been in some time due to their young, electrifying starting rotation led by NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.

Now it becomes a matter of ensuring the rest of their active roster can live up to the immense hype the rotation has set, and the offense could do with some reassurance.

The Pirates bats ranked tied for 27th in baseball in wRC+ and 27th in OPS in 2024, with their outfielders being a big contributor to those low rankings; their outfield sat last in wRC+ and 29th in OPS.

Bryan Reynolds remained a solid bat with a .791 OPS and 118 wRC+. What’s more, Oneil Cruz manning center for a full season in 2025, after posting a .773 OPS and 110 wRC+ in 2024, should help shore up Pittsburgh’s outfield offense. Still, the Pirates must answer the question of who they will deploy in right field.

Thomas would undoubtedly be a better option than anyone the Pirates threw out there this past year and would constitute a value acquisition for a small market team looking to make a push toward postseason contention now while the Skenes era is still alive and well in the Steel City.

New York Yankees

To round things off, we head to the Bronx, where it’s no secret that the Yankees will be in the market for an outfielder after Juan Soto signed the most lucrative deal in MLB history with their in-state rivals, the Mets.