Where there’s smoke…?
The front offices of both the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians have had remarkable stability over the last two decades. They’re the kind of front offices that promote from within and stick to age-old philosophies, so it’s hard not to notice how often the two have matched up for big trades.
That dates all the way back to the deal that brought Shin-Soo Choo to the Reds prior to the 2013 season, while also featuring the blockbuster that brought Trevor Bauer and his baggage to Cincinnati. More recently, the Reds scooped up former 1st round pick Will Benson from Cleveland, and that’s before we even get to Cincinnati hiring former longtime Cleveland skipper Terry Francona to be their manager.
There’s a lot to the idea that these two scour each other’s rosters on the regular. So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Reds – who are looking to contend – are kicking tires on a player a potentially selling Cleveland team might be looking to move. That’d be All-Star LF Steven Kwan, who MLB Network’s Jon Heyman suggests has the eyes of the Reds upon him as tomorrow’s deadline approaches.
Padres and Reds in addition to Dodgers (and otters) are in on the Steven Kwan derby. Kwan with Luis Arraez would be quite the interesting combo.
— Jon Heyman (@jonheyman.bsky.social) 2025-07-30T17:59:37.098Z
The Reds obviously need some more offense, and Kwan certainly would augment that (even if he’s far from a prototypical ‘power’ hitter in the mold of Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez). Kwan owns a career 114 OPS+ fueled by excellent OBP and bat-to-ball skills, as evidenced by the fact that he’s walked more times (93) than he has struck out (89) dating back to the start of the 2024 season.
He’s also under team control through the 2027 season, however, meaning Cleveland does not have to deal him right now. So, the Reds are going to have to bowl over their Ohio counterparts to get something done, something the Guardians aren’t often prone to buying into.
The question, though, is whether Cincinnati is willing to go even bigger. Cleveland also has ace Shane Bieber on the trade block – and he will be a free agent at season’s end – even though he just had a rehab start with AA last night on his way back from Tommy John surgery. Might the Reds be interested in taking on both right now? Might he be the perfect piece to help them use Nick Martinez as a rover between the rotation and bullpen and take IP off Chase Burns?
The summer stove is heating up, and Cincinnati’s squarely in the middle.