Two Moves Guardians Can Make Following Patrick Bailey Trade

It is time to have a conversation about Steven Kwan. He is hitting .204 with a .570 OPS and has struck out 21 times. His OPS is in the bottom 15 in all of baseball. That strikeout number is still top 20 in all of baseball, but compared to the 60 he had last year or the 51 he had in 2024, it is higher than expected. 

Kwan also has only nine multi-hit games this season and has seen his average drop from its April 10th peak of .264 to the .204 it is today. He has just one home run, six doubles, and nine RBI on the season.

He has been bad, especially for a lead-off hitter. There is a reason there has been loud noise for Stephen Vogt to lead off Travis Bazzana instead lately. Is this the regression the Guardians saw coming last year, leading to trade rumors at last year’s deadline? Is it just a coincidence?

Considering that the Guardians kept Kwan, it is doubtful they saw this regression coming. But now that it is here and he has shown he is a capable center fielder, will Cleveland trade Kwan this year to a contender looking for a reliable defender that also has great bat-to-ball skills?

The two sides went to arbitration before this season, so the team control is all but up for Cleveland, and Kwan’s value is arguably still high despite his downturn beginning in 2026. 

For a team that has seen its starting pitching struggle, can Kwan get traded for a big-time starter? Joe Ryan, Sandy Alcantara, Robbie Ray, or Trevor Rogers could be great additions to this staff, but they will not come super cheaply. Parting with an MLB-ready player like Kwan may be what it takes to get a deal done.

After almost a year of debating on whether to trade Kwan, the time is now for Cleveland and Kwan to go their mutually beneficial separate ways.

Arms, Arms, and More Arms

The pitching has not been as expected to begin the season for the Guardians. Gavin Williams and Parker Messick have largely carried the load, but the team still has a 3.81 ERA for its starters, which is 8th in MLB.

The problem lies with the bullpen. They are sporting a 4.03 ERA, which is 16th in baseball. Cade Smith has improved in the last few weeks after a rough start, and Hunter Gaddis has seen his ERA over 7.00 after getting a late start to his 2026 season. Shawn Armstrong is injured. Colin Holderman was injured. Franco Aleman is still getting his feet wet, and Connor Brogdon was DFA’d. 

There is hope that Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis can return to their dominant duo selves, but there is still a hole or two in the bullpen. Even if the bullpen seemed solid, you can never have too many arms to turn to. 

The Guardians would be smart, even in a division where offense is hard to come by, to not get an extra arm or two that they can rely upon late in the year. The Guardians are built around their pitching staffs, and having the bullpen be an issue is something new for this team.

High-leverage situations will be there all season and postseason long. So far, no one on the roster has proven themselves capable of handling such moments this young season. Go out and get an arm you can rely upon. If Smith and Gaddis become reliable again, you will now have three arms you can turn to in any situation and on any day. This allows everyone to be rested and get the most out of their craft. Again, you can never have too many arms.

The Guardians are not known to make big splashes, but maybe that will change this year. They need more offense (surprise), and you always need more pitching. What the Guardians ultimately decide to do on these fronts, the fans will have to wait and see.