It's becoming clearer Guardians mishandled Steven Kwan trade negotiations with Padres

You can’t talk about the current iteration of the Cleveland Guardians without talking about Steven Kwan. 

He was there in 2022 when the Guardians came out of nowhere to win the American League Central. He was there in 2024 when they did the same thing in Stephen Vogt’s first year leading the Guardians. And he was there last year when they went on their wild September comeback to win the division. 

And throughout that time, the Guardians’ front office elected to hold onto Kwan despite a bevy of interest from teams across baseball. One of the teams with the most interest was the San Diego Padres, who reportedly dangled top prospect Leo De Vries in trade talks with the Guardians.

But even that wasn't enough to get the Guardians to trade Kwan. It may have been the wrong move. 

While Kwan has become a fan favorite in Cleveland and a mainstay in the lineup, his offense has taken a nosedive across the past 10 calendar months. 

At this time last year, it looked like the Guardians were gearing up to trade Kwan in exchange for an incredible prospect return. But now we’re at a point where the Guardians  need to seriously consider if it’s time for the Guardians to move Kwan down in the lineup. 

The Guardians missed a golden opportunity to trade Steven Kwan 

While Kwan’s .211/.303/.271 slashline this season is tough to look at, it’s even worse once you peel the lens back to last season. 

In the 112 games that Kwan has played in since July 1 of last season, he posted a .238/.303/.313 slashline, which has been food for a wRC+ of 75, which means he’s been 25% worse than league average in that time span (H/T to Guardians Prospective for first pointing those stats out). 

That level of production puts him in the same boat as offensive-challenged players like Lawrence Butler and old friend Tyler Freeman; not exactly the kind of company you want your leadoff hitter to keep. 

That timeline starts around the time when the Guardians were seriously considering trading Kwan thanks to a run of poor play that was followed by Emmanuel Clase being placed on paid leave for an investigation into sports betting. The Guardians’ front office was at a crossroads. 

But instead of trading Kwan for top dollar, they elected to hold onto him in the hopes it would invigorate a wild comeback. 

And while the Guardians pulled off that comeback, Kwan wasn’t a huge factor, as he hit just .254 in the second half. At this point, the Guardians would kill for that kind of production from him. 

It’s still a bit unclear what’s caused Kwan’s sharp drop-off. Although dealt with a wrist injury last year that he suffered in May and aggravated in July, he never used that as an excuse. He also missed some time this year with neck stiffness, though that also hasn’t been used as an excuse. 

The one thing that is clear is that the current version of Kwan isn’t the same as the version of him that earned two All-Star nods and was one of the most productive outfielders in baseball. 

The Guardians had a chance to make Kwan’s struggles someone else’s problem at last year’s deadline and didn’t pull the trigger. Now they have to live with the consequences.

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