Steven Kwan has lived in trade rumors for two straight offseasons. After the Cleveland Guardians finished two wins short of the World Series, one MLB insider, Jim Bowden, said that should end.
“Don’t trade him, Cleveland. Run it back. You know, try to win. You are one series away from the World Series. Steven Kwan’s an important part of that,” Jim Bowden said on GM Territory.
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The Guardians lost Game 6 of the American League Championship Series 7-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays, falling in six games after leading 2-1. Steven Kwan hit .244 in 11 postseason games.
Trade rumors about Kwan have been swirling since the elimination of the Cleveland Guardians. Some reports predict that they’ll entertain offers this winter, with the Padres and Cubs among the possible fits.
Steven Kwan, 29, is entering his final year of arbitration, projected by MLB Trade Rumors at $11.3 million, and can reach free agency after 2027. Chris Antonetti, the Guardians’ president of baseball operations, has said the plan is unchanged.
“As we sit here today, we’re expecting Kwan to be a big part of a contending team next year,” he said. Kwan hit .282/.382/.349 with three home runs and 32 RBI in 151 games, and his .382 on-base percentage tied for seventh in the majors.
MLB Analyst Makes Case for Dodgers to Replace Teoscar Hernández With Steven Kwan
In the GM Territory segment, MLB insider Jim Bowden compared a fit between Steven Kwan and Teoscar Hernández for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hernández makes the comparison testable.
“If I’m the Dodgers, I think he fits better than Teoscar Hernandez does, to be honest, because of getting on base and being able to create runs a different way, but also the defense in left field. That below-average defense that Teoscar has at Dodger Stadium really shows up,” Jim Bowden said.
“And, you know, the Dodgers have always been about their starting pitchers and their bullpen guys. Kwan makes the pitching better as well and creates traffic for the big boppers to hit. So that’s another place that would fit.”
Hernández is entering the final year of the three-year, $66 million deal he signed in January 2025. Teoscar Hernández is the most logical big name for the Dodgers to move as they are focusing their roster around the younger core.
The fit is narrow but real: a .382 on-base percentage and a 19.8% chase rate in front of Shohei Ohtani, and a Gold Glove-caliber glove in left instead of a bat-first corner outfielder. Cost is the part nobody has answered.
One year of Steven Kwan at roughly $11.3 million is affordable for most clubs, which is why Cleveland’s asking price would be steep. This is also why the Guardians may prefer the insider’s version: keep him, add pitching, and see if a team that pushed the pennant winner to six games can go one series further.
Edited by Kaushani Chatterjee
