New Steven Kwan rumor lays out potential nightmare scenario for Guardians fans

Last year’s trade deadline almost became the deadline of Steven Kwan. While the Padres and Mariners made some big splashes at the deadline, a trade involving Kwan would have become one of the biggest deadline deals in recent memory. 

And while that deal never came to fruition, it all but guaranteed that Kwan was going to be a mainstay in trade rumors for the foreseeable future. 

That came true earlier this week thanks to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who put together a column earlier this week highlighting all of the players on the trade block this offseason. 

And Kwan was on the list. 

“(The Guardians) nearly traded him to the Dodgers at the trade deadline and Los Angeles will come calling again. The price-tag will be high, but the Dodgers certainly have the prospect capital,” Nightengale wrote. 

Steven Kwan trade rumors aren’t going anywhere any time soon

While the Dodgers just finished off their second straight World Series win, they’re not without flaws. Last year they signed Michael Conforto to a one-year deal in the hopes that he’d fix their outfield problems, but he hit just .199 with 12 home runs.

Dodgers’ left fielders combined to hit just .205 last season, which was the worst mark in baseball. 

Kiké Hernández, Alex Call and Andy Pages handled left field for the Dodgers in the postseason, but Hernández is a free agent, Call profiles as a platoon player and Pages was benched at one point during the World Series due to a lack of production. 

Kwan stands out as one of the best solutions for that problem. Even though he ended up finishing last year with an OPS+ under 100, he recorded his second straight All-Star nod and his fourth straight Gold Glove win. 

Kyle Tucker is the top outfield option in free agency (and they stand out as one of the top options for him), but it’s not a lock that he ends up in Los Angeles. 

The Dodgers’ infatuation with Kwan is well known, so it’s not a surprise their front office is planning on restarting trade talks when there’s not a deadline breathing down their necks. But just because they’re restarting talks doesn’t mean the Guardians will budge from their reported asking price of a prospect bundle headlined by one premium prospect.

There’s also the on-the-field part of this as well considering the Guardians are in a position where they should be adding to their offense, not subtracting from it.  

Rookies Chase DeLauter and George Valera seem poised to shoulder more of the workload in the outfield, while top prospect Travis Bazzana is close to busting down the door on the infield, but the front office also needs to make some move(s) to add some established talent around José Ramírez.

Although a trade for Kwan would guarantee the Guardians would be able to continue running their conveyor belt of young talent, it would hurt the team’s major league lineup.

There are plenty of Guardians who could be trade bait this offseason, but Kwan shouldn’t be one of them, no matter how big his potential trade return would be.