The most significant question mark for the San Diego Padres is what they will do at the trade deadline to upgrade left field.
Currently, players like Gavin Sheets, Brandon Lockridge, and Tyler Wade split time at the position after a failed experiment with Jason Heyward. Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox was connected to the Padres several times during the beginning of the season. However, with the Red Sox looking like contenders, it would be hard to imagine Boston becoming sellers.
If Duran is not an option for the Padres, they could turn their attention to another All-Star outfielder in the American League.
Padres Acquire Steven Kwan in Trade Idea With Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians have won eight of their last 10 games and are just 3.5 games behind the Red Sox for the third AL Wild Card spot.
Nonetheless, Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer is not convinced they will not trade some of their better players, including two-time All-Star Steven Kwan.
“The Cleveland Guardians will ‘at the very least will listen’ if other teams call after the two-time All-Star, according to Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN,” wrote Rymer. “With only two years of club control left, he is at that stage of his career where a Cleveland player pretty much automatically becomes trade bait.”
Kwan is a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and one of the best contact hitters in Major League Baseball. He’s hitting .288 this season and ranks in the 100th percentile in MLB in WHIFF rate. In 410 plate appearances in 2025, Kwan has struck out only 34 times compared to 36 walks.
“The 27-year-old is the best defensive left fielder in the game, as well as the best pure hitter this side of Luis Arraez,” wrote Rymer. “If the two of them were to team up in San Diego, the Padres would have MLB’s two best contact merchants atop their lineup.”
Who Could the Guardians Acquire in Return?
For a talent like Kwan, the San Diego Padres might have to offer a few of their more promising prospects to entice the Cleveland Guardians.
“The acquisition cost for Kwan would not be cheap, but Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has a long track record of not being afraid to take big swings,” wrote Rymer. “And while his farm system doesn’t go deep, it does have two elite prospects in shortstop Leo De Vries and catcher Ethan Salas.”
De Vries, the Padres’ top-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline, is an 18-year-old shortstop currently playing at High-A Fort Wayne. As a switch-hitter, the Dominican Republic native has shown flashes of speed and power early in his minor league career.
Behind Samuel Basallo of the Baltimore Orioles, Salas is the second-ranked MLB catching prospect. His .188 average and .544 OPS at Double-A San Antonio are not eye-opening numbers, but it’s a small sample size of 10 games for the No. 1 international prospect in the 2023 class.
It’s doubtful the Guardians would receive both De Vries and Salas in a deal for Kwan. Acquiring either and a pitching prospect would be ideal for an organization that is not looking to undergo a full rebuild anytime soon.
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