Nats leave St. Louis with Deadline decisions approaching

ST. LOUIS -- Lane Thomas didn’t quite make his first All-Star Game last week, but his numbers were good enough to consider him one of the National League’s most-notable snubs.

Instead of playing, he watched two former teammates make spectacular catches at the Midsummer Classic. Adolis García and Randy Arozarena both robbed NL hitters of extra bases in the first inning. Had Thomas made the All-Star team, it would have completed the set.

“That was basically our outfield in Memphis,” Thomas said.

The Cardinals were dealing with a glut of young outfielders before they moved on from the three Triple-A Memphis teammates. García went to Texas in 2019 in exchange for cash. Arozarena was sent to Tampa Bay as part of a trade that brought in young pitcher Matthew Liberatore in 2020. The Cardinals shipped Thomas to the Nationals at the 2021 Trade Deadline for veteran lefty Jon Lester.

“At the time, you could have flipped a coin and put anyone out there and gotten pretty close to the same results,” Thomas said. “They just had so many guys that were similar.”

At this time of year, a team’s composition, and the direction of its season, can change abruptly. Back in St. Louis for the weekend, Thomas and his Washington teammates were being tailed by a coterie of scouts in advance of this year’s Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

The Nats lost to the Cardinals 8-4 on Sunday to drop two of three in the series, but the action many of their fans will be tracking in the coming days will take place in the front office, not on the playing field.

Like many sub-.500 teams, the Nationals are believed to be working to move a veteran or two to continue replenishing their farm system. That system got an influx with the trade of Juan Soto almost a year ago. The most obvious trade candidate is third baseman Jeimer Candelario, since his contract expires in a few months, but the Nats also could choose to listen on Thomas -- who won’t be a free agent until 2026 -- or, really, any veteran player on the roster.

That makes July arguably the most pivotal month of the season for the Nats. The idea is to build around a core of sub-25 players that includes shortstop C.J. Abrams, 22, catcher Keibert Ruiz, 24, and second baseman Luis García, 23.

Thomas said his preference would be to remain with the club as it gradually improves.

“We’ve got our shortstop for a long time. You’ve got Luis playing second. You’ve got a lot of good pitchers that are coming up,” Thomas said. “Hopefully, I’m here to see all those guys succeed and maybe get to a point where we have successful seasons, too.”

Meanwhile, the Nats can only hope their most obvious trade chip heals fast. Candelario, whose $5 million, one-year contract expires after this season, left the first game of this three-game series in the first inning due to pain from a bone bruise he’d sustained while fielding grounders Friday afternoon. The swelling had subsided considerably in his thumb by Sunday evening, and it appears Candelario will return some time in the next few days, which could help the team’s efforts to market him.

If the Nationals are considering trading a reliever, that effort also took a blow this weekend. Righty Hunter Harvey was sent back to Washington for an MRI on his sore right triceps, and manager Dave Martinez said it appears he’s headed for the injured list.

Candelario, too, said his preference would be to remain with the Nats, but he understands a trade also is a strong possibility. He was traded from the Cubs to the Tigers in 2017 and signed with Washington last November.

“Whatever the organization wants to do with me, I’m glad,” Candelario said. “I would love to stay here. I like the guys for sure. I like the team. But this is a business, man. You’re here today, and you don’t know tomorrow.”

Martinez said he already has started discussing the possibility of a late-July disruption with the young club.

“The biggest focus for me is getting them to understand, ‘Hey, you’re still a Washington National. We’ve still got to play together. You’ve got to bring energy every day,’” Martinez said. “Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Worry about what you can control, and that’s to go out there and perform. We have to continue to do that, especially the younger players. They sometimes can get wrapped up in stuff that they read or hear from other teammates and guys on other teams.”

That chatter isn’t going to abate for quite some time.