The Guardians made the right decision about Steven Kwan at the Winter Meetings 

The Winter Meetings have come and gone, and Steven Kwan is still a member of the Cleveland Guardians. 

That’s a good thing. 

While it doesn’t mean that Kwan’s set to spend the rest of his career in Cleveland, it can’t be overstated how much an offseason trade of him would’ve hurt the Guardians in 2026, regardless of what the prospect return is. 

Some may say that’s a short-sighted view. And that’s fair. But it’s also important to remember that the Guardians need to add to their offense, not subtract from it. 

There’s no denying that Kwan holds a ton of value on the trade market, but removing a homegrown player of his caliber from the roster at this point in his Cleveland tenure would do more harm than good. 

The Guardians were smart to not trade Steven Kwan at the Winter Meetings 

After Kwan’s trade buzz hit a fever pitch during last season’s trade deadline, it went into the background in the second half of the season before bubbling back to the surface ahead of the Hot Stove season. 

But any potential offseason trade rumors hit a wall last week thanks to Chris Antonetti saying the Guardians would have a quiet Winter Meetings and Buster Olney reporting the Guardians’ “intention” was to keep Kwan for 2026. 

And Antonetti was right, as the Guardians’ lone move during the actual Winter Meetings was selecting Peyton Pallette in the Rule 5 Draft (though they did sign relievers right before and after the meetings). 

Those moves show that Antonetti and Co. feel comfortable entering 2026 with the hitters they currently have on their lineup — Kwan being one of them. 

It’s also tough to determine what Kwan’s value would be, which may have made the Guardians’ front office’s decision easier. While Kwan is a four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, he’s also coming off a season where he had an OPS+ of 98 and hit just .254 in the second half. 

The Guardians made it clear at the deadline that they weren’t going to budge off their asking price of Kwan that started with one premium prospect, and it’s hard to believe that the asking price has changed. 

Although the Guardians are going to need to make some kind of decision about Kwan’s future at some point, holding onto him is the right move. 

Cleveland’s outfield should be in a better spot in 2026 thanks to Chase DeLauter and George Valera (hopefully) getting more time to shine, but having Kwan as an anchor in left field will be a huge help to everyone. 

The Guardians made the postseason last season on the back of a shutdown starting rotation and deep bullpen, and it looks like both of those things will be true again in 2026. And it looks like their lineup will once again feature Kwan at the top of it.