Cleveland Guardians avoid arbitration with All-Star outfielder Steven Kwan

The Guardians finished the 2025 season as the No. 1 seed in the AL Central with hopes of Kwan serving as a staple for the team again heading into the upcoming campaign.

Oct 2, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan (38) hits a double in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers during game three of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have agreed on a deal with one of their franchise cornerstones.

On Thursday, Jan. 8, a report from Robert Murray of FanSided announced that the Guardians and left fielder Steven Kwan agreed on a $7.725 million deal to avoid arbitration. Kwan, who has between three and six years of MLB service time, was arbitration-eligible this offseason.

Had the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the case would have gone before a neutral arbitrator, who would have been required to choose either the player’s or the team’s proposed salary figure, with no middle ground or further negotiation.

The notable aspect of the agreement is that Kwan’s salary comes in below several arbitration projections, including MLBTradeRumors’ estimate of $8.8 million.

Source: Steven Kwan and the Guardians have agreed at $7.725 million to avoid arbitration.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 8, 2026

While the Guardians had an up-and-down 2025 campaign, Kwan remained consistent. He helped lead the team to an AL Central title, which came off the back of a 15.5-game comeback from behind the Detroit Tigers.

He finished the season with a slashing line of .272/.330/.374 for an OPS of .705, tacking on 29 doubles and 11 home runs.

Defensively, he continued to be incredibly reliable. He secured yet another All-Star appearance and Golden Glove honor, recording a fielding percentage at 97.6% and a near-career high of 308 putouts. The funny thing is, even while being consistent, statistically it was the worst fielding percentage of his career, and he also had the most amount of errors at eight.

That does show that he needs to get back to his regular, trustworthy fielding in 2026, but that his "weak" play is still some of the best in the league.

Alongside being named a Golden Glove winner in 2025, he was also one of three unanimous winners of the 2025 Fielding Bible Awards. That was his third time winning the honor in the last four seasons.

While his name did end up in trade conversations at the deadline, the front office of the Guardians decided to stay put and keep him around. Trading a player of his calibre would be heartbreaking for the city, but could end up providing the organization with some strong wealth in return. It would be unsurprising to see him turn up in those types of discussions in 2026, especially with it being a contract year for the .281 career hitter.

As Cleveland's front office potentially looks to begin negotiations with Kwan in the coming months, a long-term extension will be on the table. His worth has him in the range of a 6+ year deal for upwards of $70 million. Back before the 2025 season, many projections had a four-year, roughly $47 million deal as the level of worth for Kwan.

Kwan's a staple for this organization next to Jose Ramirez, and it would be shocking to see them let him walk at the end of the campaign.

The team is set to take the field for game action, for the first time since the playoff loss to the Detroit Tigers, on Saturday, Feb. 21, with first pitch slated for 3:05 p.m. EST against the Cincinnati Reds for MLB Spring Training.