Jose Ramirez's extension should implore Guardians to make right move with Steven Kwan

On Saturday, the Guardians earned some much-needed goodwill by inking José Ramírez to another contract extension that will keep him in Cleveland through the 2032 season. 

It’s a contract extension that is going to impact the Guardians in many ways. First off, Ramírez is going to be a Guardian for the rest of his career, which is a huge win for him and the city of Cleveland as a whole. 

But, in a bit of an ironic twist, spending money on Ramírez’s extension could also help the Guardians save money in the long-term. While they didn’t need to spend money on Ramírez this offseason since he was already under contract through 2028, Ramírez opened up contract talks this offseason and took yet another hometown discount in his deal. 

The new contract will add four years and $106 million to the $69 million he was already owed over the next three seasons, and $70 million of his future earnings are going to be deferred. 

That’s a great deal for any player, but it’s even better when you consider that it’s for one of the five best players in the sport. 

And the best thing the Guardians can do with that financial flexibility is sign Steven Kwan to the long-term extension that he deserves. 

The Guardians should repurpose some of the money they saved on Jose Ramirez to sign Steven Kwan to an extension 

Kwan’s potential extension has been a lightning rod conversation in Cleveland for a couple years, and it hit a fever pitch last summer when his name was floated in rumors ahead of the trade deadline. 

The Guardians held firm on their asking price for Kwan at both the trade deadline and winter meetings, but he only has two more seasons of team control remaining via arbitration and his price tag keeps rising. 

Signing Kwan to an extension would be a costly proposition, but it’s clearly the right move considering he’s a four-time Gold Glove winner and has been a back-to-back All-Star. 

Even though he had a subpar season last year (by his standards), he still slashed .272/.330/.374 with 11 home runs, 56 RBI and 21 steals. He’s one of the best table-setters in baseball and has been a staple at the top of the Guardians’ lineup since he made his debut in 2022. 

Cleveland’s outfielders hit just .223 last year and it’s scary to think about what that number would be if Kwan wasn’t a part of that picture. While the future of the outfield is bright thanks to the presence of Chase DeLauter, George Valera and others, it would be even brighter if Kwan was in the picture long-term. 

At the end of December the Athletics signed outfielder Tyler Soderstrom to a team-friendly seven-year, $86 million extension, which should serve as the starting point for any potential Kwan talks. Chances are Kwan would want more than Soderstrom got (and deserves more), but that deal was a tangible example that there’s a way for the Guardians and Kwan to work out an extension. 

Signing Ramirez to a long-term extension was a great way to salvage the offseason, and adding Kwan to that picture would make things even better.