The Cleveland Guardians have treaded water over the past week or so after a scalding run of winning ten out of 11 games, but they did kick off their series in New York with the Yankees with a 9-4 win on Tuesday night. It was a welcomed sign to see the offense wake up again after failing to score more than four runs in each of the last 12 games.
Jose Ramirez hit three doubles and drove in a pair while Kyle Manzardo contributed a two-run homer and Travis Bazzana laced a double and drove in four runs. It was an impressive showing against one of the best young pitchers in baseball in Cam Schlittler, and despite recording two hits and two runs of his own, one insider spoiled the party by suggesting it’s time to trade another key veteran.
Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes recently wrote an article detailing how the time is now right to move outfielder Steven Kwan. With one year left on his contract after this season, he believes the time is now considering the circumstances and the rise in outfield production outside of him in this organization.
“We know how they operate,” Hoynes said. “[Steven Kwan’s] got one year left of control. This might be the time to trade him. You know, trade him one year too early instead of one year too late.”
To Hoynes point, even he may be a year late. A case could be made that the time to trade Kwan was last year after he got off to a tremendous start, but hindsight is always 20/20.
Kwan hasn’t been the same hitter this fanbase grew accustomed to watching over the past year. His bat speed is down and he isn’t hitting the ball hard with any consistency, which is a disturbing trend that doesn’t often correct itself.
Stephen Vogt has dropped him from the leadoff spot, and with how well Bazzana has been doing, there’s close to no chance of Kwan reclaiming that spot. A guy hitting around .220 with no power and one year of team control left doesn’t have nearly the trade value that a guy hitting around .300 with over two years of control left would.
The outfielders around him are showing notable progress, and it would make it a lot easier to stomach a Kwan trade at this year’s deadline if that’s something the front office is considering. It’s tough to deal a fixture of your team when you are competing for a third straight division crown, but if the right offer comes along, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this summer.
NEXT: One Guardians Series In June Has A National Analyst Buzzing
