Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan rounds third base en route to scoring against the Kansas City Royals. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

What Cleveland Guardians need if they trade Steven Kwan

Originally posted on Cleveland Guardians on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Jan 19, 2026 12:02 PM ET

Cleveland Guardians All-Star outfielder Steven Kwan is the subject of trade rumors going into the upcoming season.

Kwan, 28, has been a Gold Glove recipient in each of his four seasons with the Guardians and has been an All-Star in 2024 and 2025. However, trade rumors have been rampant because he is entering free agency in two seasons. The Guardians may want to get ahead of the curve and get something of value for him while he is still playing at a high level.

Bleacher Report writer Kerry Miller laid out the possibility of trading Kwan and determined what the Guardians would need to entertain a potential trade.

"In four career seasons in the majors, Kwan has won four Gold Gloves while batting .281. And when he featured prominently in trade speculation this past summer, the general public finally started to appreciate just how valuable he has been," Miller wrote.

"But if Cleveland was unwilling to move its second-best player back when it was sub-.500 and seemingly drawing dead for the postseason, would it really do so now, with as good a chance as any team of winning the AL Central?

"It only makes sense for the Guardians if they're getting multiple, MLB-caliber starting pitchers in the deal. Which means the Dodgers and Mets are probably the only plausible trade partners here."

Kwan unlikely to be traded unless big offer comes

The Guardians definitely have to keep the future in mind with the possibility that Kwan could sign elsewhere in free agency for big bucks to a team like the Dodgers or Mets that has oodles of money to spend.

Things could change if the league adopts some kind of salary cap after the next collective bargaining agreement is negotiated upon, but they have to operate as if that isn't going to be the case. That being said, if you are in a smaller market like the Guardians, you don't trade players like Kwan just because you're afraid they may leave in free agency.

Some teams do that and it leads to years, sometimes decades, of mediocracy. The Guardians aren't in that group after making the playoffs for the last two seasons, so it's clear that they want to win. They can't be a winning team without Kwan on the roster.

Kwan and the Guardians are set to play their first Spring Training game on Feb. 21 against the Cincinnati Reds.

This article first appeared on Cleveland Guardians on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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