The Washington Nationals gave Jeimer Candelario an off day Monday, and the third baseman probably could have predicted it weeks — if not months — ago. After all, with MLB’s trade deadline Tuesday, the Nationals weren’t going to take any risks with the 29-year-old in the lineup to jeopardize any deal. Not when Candelario, on a modest one-year, $5 million contract, is one of the more notable rentals available on the market.
Lane Thomas is a different story.
Thomas was in the Nationals’ lineup for Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, adding to the mystery of whether the right fielder will be traded by Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline. Like Candelario, Thomas has been frequently mentioned in trade rumors given the Nationals are still in the midst of a rebuild.
But there’s no certainty that Thomas will be moved. According to multiple reports, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo and opposing clubs haven’t seen eye-to-eye on Thomas’ value.
The Nationals, Rizzo has said, have priced Thomas as an everyday at-bat who can contribute to a Major League club — something the outfielder has done routinely for Washington this season. Other clubs have reportedly been more skeptical, viewing Thomas as an off-the-bench, situational hitter.
The difference in perception could make it difficult to finalize a trade.
“We see (Thomas) as an everyday player,” Rizzo told MLB Network Radio. “Now, if you as the opposing team trying to acquire him see him as an everyday player, then I think that we can make a deal, but if you see him as a kind of a good bench guy or a platoon player, then our value system isn’t going to allow us to do a deal.”
Perhaps giving Rizzo and the Nationals leverage is the fact that Thomas is under team control for two more seasons and makes just $2.2 million this season. That means the Nationals aren’t in a position in which executives feel pressure to trade him, in part, because they could always revisit the topic this offseason or at next year’s deadline.
Candelario, by contrast, is a near certainty to be moved because of his expiring contract. Rizzo said on the radio that up to eight teams have expressed interest in the third baseman. Those clubs reportedly include the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels.
The two players have been the Nationals’ top hitters this season. Entering Monday, Candelario is hitting .258 with 16 home runs and a .823 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). Thomas also has 16 home runs and an above-average OPS of .802, while hitting a team-best .285. Candelario joined the Nationals on a flyer while Thomas was acquired in a trade with St. Louis for aging pitcher Jon Lester.
The only other player on the Nationals to garner as much interest as the two hitters has been reliever Kyle Finnegan. Manager Dave Martinez told reporters that Finnegan would be available for a save situation against the Brewers, an indication that trade talks have not likely progressed to the point Washington would withhold the reliever from a game.
Finnegan, like Thomas, is under team control for another two years. He also serves as Washington’s closer, and has produced in the role with 14 saves and a 3.02 ERA.
“We’re getting hit a lot on Finnegan,” Rizzo said. “We like him as a reliever, he’s our closer right now, we think he fits on a championship club, and somewhere in the back of somebody’s bullpen.”
Rizzo’s comments reflect the car salesman-like nature his job entails this time of year. As general manager, Rizzo is tasked with drumming up interest in his players — and then capitalizing on the return. The executive has repeatedly said the Nationals will be “very aggressive” in his approach to this year’s deadline, even if the team no longer has stars like Juan Soto and Max Scherzer to sell off.
That aggression will be tested by what happens with Thomas.
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