There was plenty of speculation surrounding Cleveland Guardians All-Star Steven Kwan during the final hours leading up to the MLB trade deadline this year, with a growing belief emerging that he would be moved.
After trading Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Guardians seemingly shifted their focus to finding Kwan a new home. He was among several talented outfielders who were on the market, along with Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles’ Ramón Laureano.
However, of that trio, only Laureano got traded as the San Diego Padres completed a deal with the Orioles.
It appeared at one point that the Kwan sweepstakes would come down to a pair of National League West foes in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Padres.
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the Dodgers made a strong effort to complete a Kwan trade on deadline day:
On the position player front, the team spent much of Thursday attempting to pry outfielder Steven Kwan from the Cleveland Guardians. The asking price was steep – Leo De Vries, the headliner of the Padres’ package for Miller, was the starting point for the Guardians’ ask for Kwan, according to a league source. The club’s interest in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan never gained steam in trade talks.
Kwan is in the midst of another solid season, batting .281/.342/.394 with 20 doubles, nine home runs and 39 RBI. While his power numbers are slightly down this year, Kwan has continued to demonstrate elite bat-to-ball skills, striking out only 43 times compared to 40 walks in 109 games.
Kwan has primarily played left field this season and leads all outfielders with nine assists. However, the three-time Gold Glove Award winner has committed the most errors with seven while seeing a drop-off in some other defensive metrics as well.
Did the Dodgers need Steven Kwan?
Kwan would have represented an upgrade over Michael Conforto in left field, but the exorbitant cost for a trade seemingly was out of the Dodgers’ comfort zone.
Furthermore, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was correct in noting there wasn’t a trade that would’ve solved the Dodgers’ offensive woes. Whether Kwan or another potential target, the Dodgers still need the likes of Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández to meet expectations.
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