Guardians might be doomed with star player after Red Sox's Roman Anthony extension

While the Guardians elected to hold onto Steven Kwan at this year’s trade deadline, the lack of a move was a bit of them kicking the can down the road in terms of his future with the organization. Even if we know that Kwan will spend the rest of the season with the Guardians, it’s not like the trade rumors will go away. 

That said, the easiest way for those trade rumors to go away is by offering Kwan an extension that keeps him in Cleveland long-term. But the path to doing that got a little bit harder on Wednesday when the Boston Red Sox inked rookie outfielder Roman Anthony to an eight-year, $130 million extension with the team despite only having played in 46 big league games. 

The deal could reach up to $230 million through a variety of escalators. 

Can you hear that? That’s the sound of Steven Kwan’s price tag going up. 

Guardians might be doomed with star player after Red Sox's Roman Anthony extension

While Kwan is older than the 21-year-old Anthony, he has three more seasons of big league experience than Anthony and has three Gold Gloves and two All-Star nods on his résumé. There’s a reason the Guardians' asking price for Kwan started with at least one premium prospect. 

But, when it comes to an extension, Kwan’s asking price will likely start at the $130 million Anthony signed for, with a chance it could go up even higher. 

It doesn’t help that Kwan doesn’t exactly have a one-to-one MLB comp given his unique profile. So much of his value is derived from his defense and ability to get on-base (two things that can be de-valued in today's MLB), but it seems like all of baseball has determined that he’s worth it, otherwise he wouldn’t have had such a big trade market. 

For what it’s worth, Kwan has said that he’s open to an extension in Cleveland, even if past talks between his agent and the team haven’t amounted to anything. 

“I would love to,” Kwan said about working out an extension, per The Athletic’s Zack Mesiel. “I love it here. I love everything about this place. If they gave me the opportunity, I would love to.”

The Guardians usually only talk to players about extensions during spring training for the fear that it could be a distraction during the season, but both parties may be willing to make a bit of an exception here given the unique circumstances. 

That, however, would depend on if the Guardians would be willing to pay Kwan what he felt he was worth. While they inked Tanner Bibee to a five-year, $48 million contract in spring training, an extension for Kwan would net more than that; perhaps even more than José Ramírez’s seven-year, $141 million contract, which currently stands as the biggest contract in franchise history.

While the Guardians are in no rush to extend Kwan since he has two years of team control left after this season, his price tag is only going to go up. Anthony’s extension is another reminder of that.