Royals agree to 1-year deal with OF Lane Thomas

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals have agreed to a one-year, $5.25 million deal with veteran outfielder Lane Thomas, sources told MLB.com on Thursday night.

The club has not confirmed the contract, which is pending a physical and includes $1 million in incentives. The Royals are at 38 players on their 40-man roster, so a corresponding move is not needed.

The 30-year-old Thomas is a buy-low bounceback candidate and a right-handed hitter who can play center field, all items the Royals were searching for when looking at the free-agent market for outfielders who can provide some length to the bottom of their lineup. They missed out on re-signing Mike Yastrzemski, who inked a two-year, $23 million contract with the Braves on Wednesday, but had a list of free agents to continue to go after as they left the Winter Meetings.

Thomas spent the last year and a half with the Guardians and went through several ups and downs. After joining Cleveland in a Trade Deadline deal with the Nationals in 2024 -- the Royals expressed interest in adding him then, too -- the outfielder batted .148 in his first 29 games for Cleveland. But he turned it on in September, with a .560 slugging percentage, and Thomas’ grand slam in Game 5 of the ALDS against Detroit and Tarik Skubal helped send the Guardians to the ALCS. There, Thomas’ double preceded a game-tying home run by Jhonkensy Noel in the bottom of the ninth in Game 3 against the Yankees, which the Guardians won in 10 innings.

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