The Cleveland Guardians came out of the All-Star break playing some of the best baseball in MLB. They were once 0.5 games behind the New York Yankees, but now have slipped in the standings and may be gearing up for the 2026 season.
Although they had a relatively quiet trade deadline, that doesn’t mean they won’t make moves following the 2025 season. Emmanuel Clase’s name came up in many speculative rumors before the deadline, but just a few days before, he was sent on unpaid leave by MLB for an ongoing gambling investigation. Steven Kwan drew interest at the deadline but stayed put.
Guardians Predicted to Move on From Steven Kwan
Steven Kwan is in the middle of having another stellar season. He earned his second All-Star nod in July and is slashing .339/.395/.734 through 118 games this season. On top of that, Kwan also plays among the best outfield defenders in MLB.
However, he could move after this season.
Bleacher Report predicts Steven Kwan as one of the 10 All-Stars that could be moved this offseason:
“Had Steven Kwan not been such a pervasive name on the trade block in late July, this wouldn’t make much sense. Cleveland was in the ALCS just last October and is right there in the wild-card mix this year, which simply isn’t your standard candidate for a “looking to turn the last two years of team control on one of our best players into a package of prospects” type of swap. Nevertheless, the reports were that they were pretty aggressively shopping him right up until the deadline, so it seems as though they just aren’t that interested in spending what will probably be around $20M over the course of the next two seasons on a guy they probably wouldn’t (be able to) re-sign after 2027.”
The Cleveland Guardians are not a big-spending team, which is why they may trade Kwan.
Steven Kwan has a bWAR of 3.3 this season, now his fourth in the majors. He has yet to have a WAR of under 3.0 in those four seasons. His career OPS+ is 112, despite not hitting for many home runs. His career high for long balls in a season is 14.
Who Would Want Steven Kwan?
Kwan’s market would likely be significant, as organizations always look for a spark plug guy like the 27-year-old corner outfielder. He gets on base, plays excellent defense, and is starting to slug slightly higher over the past two seasons. Kwan has captured three Gold Gloves in his first three full seasons and is chasing a fourth straight award.
The idea of trading might also be what Kwan wants. The Cleveland Guardians have shown reluctance to pay their star players more than $10 million AAV. For Kwan, he could certainly get potentially double that in free agency. He is under contract with the Guardians for this season, but will enter arbitration afterward, which could lead to a pay raise.
Cleveland may not want to get rid of Kwan because that would signal a rebuild, but the potential haul they would get in return would have to include a few top prospects or multiple MLB-ready players.
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