The Cleveland Guardians are expected to decide this offseason whether or not they want to trade Steven Kwan.
He’s at the point in time when Cleveland standouts are often traded — the Guardians aren’t often going to let a player reach free agency and be lost for nothing, when they can instead trade them away for assets that could be helpful in the future.
Kwan, of course, is a tricky case. He’s Cleveland’s leadoff hitter and a Gold Glove left fielder. If there was ever a player to keep around, it would likely be him.
The Guardians have rarely reached long-term extensions with players of Kwan’s ilk, though — Jose Ramirez is the exception, not the rule.
That leaves the Guardians in a tough spot in this particular offseason — what to do with Kwan ahead of an expected lockout starting on Dec. 1. Once baseball is locked out, no moves can be made until a collective bargaining agreement is reached.
So in the meantime, it’s an odd limbo period with Kwan, but there is some insight out there on what that could look like.
Who Guardians Might Trade Steven Kwan For
MLB insider Jon Morosi shared an interesting report on X on Monday. He spelled out how teams with guys one year away from free agency — like the Guardians with Kwan — won’t be approaching trade negotiations as normal.
It seems unlikely that there’ll be any trades of players like that for prospects, Morosi writes — because the acquiring team would be worried about getting very few games out of the pending free agent if the season gets shortened.
Instead, if such players are traded, it might be for each other.
He also includes Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert, Twins pitcher Joe Ryan and Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara in his list with Kwan.
However, sources say pending free agents
That report does raise an interesting question: Would the Guardians prefer any of those players to Kwan?
Steven Kwan Trade Rumors
If the three aforementioned pitchers — Gilbert, Ryan and Alcantara — were all on the block for Kwan, it’d present Cleveland with a fascinating decision.
In reality, though, Kwan might be more valuable to the Guardians, who already have a deep stable of pitching but have a limited group of outfielders and hitters.
Kwan’s every-day contributions likely can’t be matched in this roster construction by a starting pitcher, no matter how good.
Besides, if the only player the Guardians could get is another guy they probably wouldn’t instead and would more naturally look to trade, it’s not a deal that would make a whole lot of sense for Cleveland in the first place.
We Know Who Guardians Could Trade Steven Kwan For