The Giants should sell — HOWEVER!

There is one really, truly big exception out there and potentially available.

The San Francisco Giants are 35-42 since May 1st, the 8th-worst record in baseball that puts them in a group of sellers at tomorrow’s MLB trade deadline. Buster Posey & Zack Minasian should really sell off as much of the roster as possible and get ready to compete in 2026 instead, but I think there’s an exception to this idea that needs to be considered.

According to NY Post & Arson Judge creator Jon Heyman, the Cleveland Guardians have made left fielder Steven Kwan available in trade discussions. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com says they’re “trying to move” him (along with Shane Bieber).

This is sort of an earth-shattering revelation because the Guardians seemed content to hold on to this very valuable and extremely affordable player. Kwan’s salary in 2025 is just $4.175 million and he has two years of arbitration remaining. The 27-year old (he turns 28 on September 5th) two-time All-Star and Fremont native isn’t a slugger, but he’s sort of the premiere contact hitter after Luis Arraez on top of being a three-time Gold Glove winner in left field.

So, the Giants should be interested in trading whatever it takes to get him to help with that preparation for 2026 — and, sure, trading a bunch of depth and prospects might actually work against that, but go with me here for a second — and, perhaps more importantly here for 2025, block a division rival from landing him.

Steven Kwan on the Padres or Dodgers would be a really hard pill to swallow. He’s the type of player who fits Oracle Park, he fits the Northern California vibe, and if Buster Posey could land Rafael Devers, then surely he could land Steven Kwan?

The Dodgers have six players on MLB Pipeline’s latest top 100 prospects list while the Padres have two, including the #3 overall prospect in MLB, SS Leo De Vries.

The Giants have just Bryce Eldridge (#17). Eldridge for Kwan straight up wouldn’t get it done.

They also have at least a few exceptional relievers, though, with teams showing interest in acquiring them. Buster Posey has already pulled off a blockbuster trade in his first year as the top exec — how about a three-team trade, with assets from one or two of those hauls going to Cleveland for Kwan?

The Dodgers would probably try to figure out a way to shed Michael Conforto’s contract in a deal just to ease some of their competitive balance tax obligations, and I say that because I don’t think Cleveland’s aim in this situation is to simply shed payroll to save costs. Their current payroll is $104 million, but they’re one of those teams that always has to build while trying to contend, and so they might see a Kwan-Bieber shedding as like a haircut, with a near-term shortening setting up future growth. So, if the Dodgers want him, they can probably get him, and that’s why it’s important for the Giants to be involved here. The other reason why I mention this is that from the Giants perspective, they could ask the Guardians if they’d rather have Conforto or Mike Yastrzemski for the rest of the season.

If the Dodgers really can just get any player they want, then there is nothing that the Giants can really do from a competition standpoint going forward. Sure, they can cobble together a league average roster made up of platoon bats and free agents on overpays and hope that the whole is better than the Dodgers than the sum of the parts, but that’s not really a plan; and, it’s one thing to be completely shoved off the international stage when it comes to competing for players, it’s quite another thing to let a rival poach a hometown kid.

So, the Giants might want to figure out how to get Steven Kwan. Today.