Steven Kwan is getting “a ton” of curiosity because the commerce deadline approaches, as a supply tells The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The Dodgers and Blue Jays are two of the groups linked to the Guardians outfielder, with Rosenthal additionally citing the beforehand reported curiosity from the Phillies and Padres.
Kwan is having one other sturdy season, with a .287/.351/.411 slash line in 443 plate appearances together with 9 residence runs and 11 steals (in 13 makes an attempt). This interprets to a 115 wRC+ that’s under the 131 wRC+ Kwan posted in 2024, although his bat has began to return alive after a prolonged hunch that stretched by June and into early July. Kwan’s normally Gold Glove-caliber left subject glovework can also be all the way down to a -1 within the view of the Outs Above Common metric, however the Defensive Runs Saved metric nonetheless has him at an elite +13 over 853 2/3 innings in left subject.
A drop in stroll fee might clarify a number of the slight offensive decline, as Kwan’s BB% is roughly league-average after being solidly within the sixty fifth percentile or higher over his first three MLB seasons. Nevertheless, the ebook on Kwan is fairly set at this level. Kwan nearly by no means strikes out, and thus his sheer quantity of contact and high quality pace has allowed him to be a plus offensive participant regardless of having little or no energy and a definite lack of laborious contact.
Between this manufacturing and the truth that Kwan is arbitration-controlled by the 2028 season, it’s simple to see why so many contenders are checking in on his availability. As Rosenthal notes, a case might be made that Kwan could be the very best all-around place participant out there on the deadline, offered that the Guards had been really keen to half with him.
Cleveland has dropped to 52-54, and sit 9 video games behind the Tigers for first place within the AL Central and 4 video games again of the Pink Sox for the ultimate AL wild card slot. The Guards had been additional rocked by yesterday’s information that Emmanuel Clase has been positioned on administrative depart because of a league investigation associated to sports activities betting. With Clase now off the desk as a possible commerce candidate and unavailable on the mound till no less than August 31, Rosenthal feels the state of affairs “ended any probability of the Guardians changing into a purchaser” on the deadline and will make the crew open to elevated promoting.
[Related: Cleveland Guardians Trade Deadline Outlook]
This will imply the Guards might store not simply their impending free brokers, however extra controllable belongings like Kwan. Since there’s no direct urgency for Kwan to be moved now (slightly than at a later date in his crew management), Cleveland can afford to be very picky in presents, and can naturally set a really excessive asking worth.
The Blue Jays and Guardians have lined up on a number of vital offers lately, which might maybe improve Toronto’s possibilities of lining up on a Kwan commerce. Kwan would step proper into an on a regular basis left subject function and bolster a Jays outfield that has been considerably diminished by accidents to Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho, in addition to George Springer getting an more and more heavy share of DH duties.
Toronto’s assortment of outfielders (Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, Joey Loperfido, Alan Roden, and former Guardian Myles Straw) have principally been fairly good in filling in, and serving to carry the Jays to first place within the AL East. It stands to cause that Cleveland would have curiosity in a number of the youthful and extra controllable outfielders to assist its personal outfield state of affairs, which has been a longstanding weak hyperlink for the Guards even with Kwan’s sturdy efficiency during the last 4 years. However, Barger is the one member of this group that might be a viable headliner in a Kwan commerce package deal, because the Guardians would probably ask for no less than one in all prime prospects Arjun Nimmala or Trey Yesavage.
Los Angeles has a considerably deeper farm system than Toronto or nearly some other crew, so if it got here all the way down to a pure bidding warfare of younger expertise, the Dodgers are in good place to beat the market on Kwan. If a commerce passed off, the Dodgers would have a beginning outfield of Kwan in left subject, Andy Pages in middle subject, and Teoscar Hernandez in proper, with Tommy Edman, Michael Conforto, James Outman, Esteury Ruiz, and (when wholesome) Enrique Hernandez offering assist in backup roles.
The clearest odd man out of this playing-time state of affairs could be Conforto, who has been swinging the bat nicely over the previous couple of weeks however has struggles for a lot of the season. Including Kwan might imply that Conforto is distributed elsewhere in one other commerce, although most likely to not Cleveland as a part of a hypothetical Kwan commerce package deal.
