Guardians Make Shocking Roster Move After Lane Thomas Trade

The Cleveland Guardians have made a rather surprising corresponding move following their addition of Lane Thomas.

Jun 20, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Will Brennan (17) celebrates after hitting a home run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians swung a trade for outfielder Lane Thomas on Monday evening, satisfying the need for another bat in the lineup.

As a result, the Guardians were forced to make a corresponding move in order to make room for Thomas. They decided to option Will Brennan to Triple-A Columbus (via Mandy Bell of MLB.com), who has played in 77 games with the Guardians' big-league club this season.

Through 247 plate appearances, Brennan had been slashing .233/.291/.379 with eight home runs and 24 RBI. Not exactly elite production at the dish.

Brennan was one of numerous Cleveland hitters with a sub-.700 OPS this season, making the need for some offensive help abundantly clear heading into the MLB trade deadline.

The 26-year-old is a former eighth-round pick of the Guardians from 2019.

He made his major-league debut in 2022, going 15-for-42 in 11 games. Then, last season, Brennan slashed .266/.299/.356 with five homers and 41 RBI across 455 trips to the plate.

Brennan has also struggled in the outfield in 2024, registering a minus-9.8 UZR/150 while also posting a minus-5 DRS.

The emergence of youngsters Jhonkensy Noel and Angel Martinez coupled with the addition of Thomas certainly made Brennan expendable.

Thomas was slashing .253/.331/.407 with eight long balls and 40 RBI with the Washington Nationals this season. He has also stolen 28 bases.

The Knoxville, Tn. native broke into the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019 and owns a lifetime slash line of .251/.317/.432.

Thomas smashed 28 dingers as recently as last season, so he will hopefully bring some much-needed pop to the Guardians' lineup.