The Cleveland Guardians have some options to consider this offseason.
They aren’t likely to spend a lot of money on free agents, but Jose Ramirez has already put the organization on notice for not honoring its promise to improve the team around him.
With that in mind, a trade might be the most feasible path to improvement, and analyst Bernie Pleskoff named Steven Kwan as the player to offer.
“Kwan has two more years of salary arbitration before he can become a free agent in 2028. Kwan was a Gold Glove recipient in his first three years, and is likely to win one this year. An All-Star in 2024 and 2025, Kwan is among the best leadoff hitters in the game. With a keen eye at the plate, and excellent plate discipline, Kwan takes pitchers deep in counts, giving his teammates good looks at the pitcher. While Kwan may try to increase his home run production, the fact remains he is a superb line drive, contact hitter, capable of using the entire field. Kwan has been less productive in the second half of seasons, which could hamper his trade value. It would not be popular to trade Kwan, but he is clearly their best trade option for improving an underproductive offense. Kwan might be able to fetch a quality hitter on his own, or become the focal point of a blockbuster trade,” Pleskoff wrote.
That makes sense, but unless the Guardians get a massive haul in return, it’s hard to imagine they would be better without Kwan.
Of course, they do have three promising outfielders in Chase DeLauter, George Valera and C.J. Kayfus, who could be even better than Kwan on offense, but they’re first-year players nonetheless.
The Guardians fell short of the World Series this season primarily because of their lack of firepower at the plate, and moving on from one of their best hitters might not be the best way to solve this.
Then again, they may not have much of a choice.
Kwan and the Guardians have reportedly been talking about a contract extension for months, but the lack of updates suggests they’re still far apart.
While he’s openly talked about his desire to stay in Cleveland, franchise history suggests a different result.
The Guardians usually move on from their stars once they become too pricey, and as much as fans would love for Kwan to stay, that might not be possible.
NEXT: Steven Kwan Could Make Franchise History With MLB Award
