Jays Trade Reports ESCALATING... Report Reveals WILD Move | Toronto Blue Jays News

Monday night in Tampa Bay, Game 6 of the ALCS, the Rays close it out. They beat the Guardians, their season is over, and their left fielder, a four-time Gold Glover, walks off that field as the most interesting trade chip of the winter. That same day, a new report named the Blue Jays as the number one trade target of the winter for that left fielder. And then that night, a huge report dropped. It revealed that it's very possible that he's played his last game in Cleveland, and his name is Stephen Kwan and the Jays have already called about him before and by the end of this video you'll know exactly what the new reports are including one that reveals the Jays are in on Stephen Kwan more than fans initially thought and maybe even more importantly what this all means going forward as we are about to enter an absolutely crazy month of November so make sure you stay tuned till the end of it. Now this didn't just start this week it started way back in the 2024 trade deadline on July 29th Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote that Kwan was drawing a ton of interest and named the Blue Jays among the teams in the mix, along with the Phillies and the Padres. The next day, Jeff Passan at ESPN said that Toronto had recently been linked to Stephen Kwan, but added that the Jays' priority was still pitching. And then 24 hours later, the Jays did make a trade with Cleveland. It wasn't for Kwan, it was for Shane Bieber. Then in January, Mitch Bannon at the Atlantic confirmed it. The Jays checked in on Kwan at the deadline. The problem? Cleveland was asking for a gargantuan return. Now, fast forward to this year's trade deadline. The exact same story came up. Robert Murray reported that some executives wondered if Cleveland would move him. They didn't. Then, of course, we know what happened. The Guardians got hot. They won the division, and they rode Kwan all the way to the ALCS, where he played in all 11 games for Cleveland in the playoffs. He hit for .211 average, 11 hits. Wasn't a great October, but even then, his defense was what everyone was talking about all series. But that run ended on Monday and now the language is different in July the big question was could they trade him would they trade him now according to Robert Murray rivals believe a trade this winter is possible Bleacher Report's Ken Rosenthal recently named Kwan the best trade target for the Toronto Blue Jays this offseason writing that Cleveland might be willing to move him if Toronto makes it worth their while so all signs point to this and it's gotten very interesting Cleveland has done this before. Back in January 2021, Francisco Lindor, who was one year away from free agency, traded to the Mets. A few months later, the Mets gave him a $341 million contract. Fast forward to December of 2024, Josh Naylor, one year from free agency, was traded to Arizona. That same month, Andres Gimenez traded to Toronto. July 2025, Shane Bieber traded to Toronto. And here's the funny part. Gimenez was one of the players that Cleveland got back for Lindor, so the Lindor trade ended up running straight through Toronto. Robert Murray put it simply, the Guardians have a history of trading players before they get paid on the open market. Now look at Kwan's clock. He's 29, he's going into his final year of arbitration, and MLB Trade Rumors projects him to make $11.3 million in 2027 before he's a free agent. That is the exact spot that Lindor and Naylor were in when Cleveland decided to move them. Notice the other thing on that list. Toronto shows up twice between Jimenez and Bieber. These are two front offices that have done business before in the last two years, and they know exactly how to work a deal with each other. And that's why this is gaining so much traction. Now for Toronto, would they pay up and does it make sense? I'm not so sure. So let's dive into it. Obviously last year, the Jays had 79 wins, 83 losses, dead last in the AL East. And while they made a valiant effort, especially to try to chase and catch the Guardians, they fell short. They scored only 648 runs this past year, which was dead last in baseball. And of course, left field was a revolving door. I mean, we know about all the different players they used. Actually, it was 11. 11 different players started a game and left for the Jays. And unfortunately, as we all know, Jesus Sanchez played a lot of them as he logged the most starts by any individual in left field. So the Jays don't just need a left fielder. They need a left fielder who can get on base and provide some much needed help to this offense. Again, with 11 left fielders in one year last year Guardians on the other hand they've had a gold glover out there since 2022 and with George Springer potentially gone on the verge of course traded this past trade deadline their outfield is thinner than ever and let's dive into how big the gap is between what they were rocking last year and Steven Kwan last year Kwan was worth 3.8 wins above replacement the best hitter in the Blue Jays and Kazuma Okamoto was worth three wins above replacement. Same story as getting on base. Kwan had a .382 on base percentage and no Blue Jay with at least 300 appearances got on base more than Alejandro Kirk, who was at a .351. That is 31 points less than Stephen Kwan. Vlad at .332. When the Blue Jays checked in last year, the idea, as The Athletic reported, was a lefty contact bat at the top of the lineup right in front of Vlad. With the addition of Brett Bateman, that makes the Stephen Kwan question a little bit different and a lot of this is going to come down to whether or not they truly believe internally enough in Brett Bateman to not go pursue somebody else and this is why the Stephen Kwan trade idea is a bit less likely and a bit less favorable now than it was just a few months ago. Let's dive into exactly who they'd be getting. Kwan's stat line this year looks a little strange when you first look at it. A .282 batting average, a .382 on base percentage, a .349 slugging percentage but only three home runs here's what makes him different he walked 85 times struck out only 62 times and since 2000 only nine players have had a season with at least 85 walks and 62 strikeouts or fewer barry bonds albert pujols todd helton and chipper jones alongside stephen kwan those are some insane insane names to be compared and company stephen kwan baseball savant has him in the 100th percentile in whiff rate and 98th in chase rate he basically never swings and misses and it's not just a one-year fluke over his whole career which spans over 3200 plate appearances he's walked 325 times and folks he only struck out 308 and with the cherry on top he's a two-time all-star here's the number that should worry you bat speed first percentile barrel rate guess what first percentile hard hit rate first percentile he makes contact with basically everything but he doesn't hit the ball hard and with the addition again of Brett Bateman you have that left-handed hitting gold glove caliber defense in the outfield the question will be do the Jays want to go after a guy like Steven Kwan or go on someone bigger who can actually provide some power like say a Sasaki now I know a lot of people are down on Steven Kwan because the first half of the year was very very rough but I want to talk about second half Steven Kwan he from June 30th to the end of the regular season, was 6th in baseball in wins above replacement. Look at the split. Through June 29th, he hit only .211 with a .318 on base percentage. From June 30th onwards, he hit for a .352 average and a .444 on base percentage, and in July alone, he hit .403. The question will be, which one is the real Stephen Kwan? Is it the man who struggled a little bit, or is it the one who hit .403 in the month of July? The reality is, it's probably somewhere in between but no matter what version of Steven Kwan you're getting you're not getting a power bat and again the question is going to be can they swing bigger maybe a lot of it will depend on if they're able to get their number one target say a Sasaki but Kwan is definitely a lot more interesting than fans initially realized so what would it cost let's start with what we know when the Jays checked in at the 2025 deadline Cleveland wanted a huge return for context when Cleveland sent Bieber to Toronto that same week they got Cal Stephen the number five prospect in the Blue Jays system at the time and that was for a pitcher who hadn't thrown in a big league game since April of 2024. Now Kwan has significantly less control than he has over the past few years when the Jays were negotiating with the Cleveland Guardians front office. He has one year left before free agency so in theory the price should be lower than it was last summer but Cleveland doesn't have to sell and they won't be short on calls. And remember Cleveland isn't selling a player in decline. Murray says that Kwon struggled to start the year but was one of the keys to their run to the division title they'd be selling high and if the Jays do get him they'd have a full season to try and extend him before anyone else can make an offer and that's the part of a trade like this that makes it so intriguing now reports came out that there would be other suitors and other teams trying to get Kwon he named the Padres he named the Cubs and others Cubs of course could lose Seiya Suzuki in free agency and yes the Seiya Suzuki we've been covering on the channel so a lot of it's going to come down to that player the money's the easy part the jays have a ton a ton of money to spend they're 39 million dollars under the current luxury tax line we know they're not afraid to go over it and by spotrac's numbers Kwon's projected about 11.3 million dollars now on that note if you're enjoying the daily jays content make sure to hit that subscribe button we make videos every single day here's the catch when cleveland traded bieber they took a pitcher back when they traded Naylor they took a pitcher back and the jays are about and already lost of course Kevin Gausman. They potentially are going to lose Bieber. They have some young star pitchers in the making, Nolan Perry, Johnny King. The question is, do you want to give one of those guys up for somebody who can't hit for power? That's the real question. It isn't the money. It isn't necessarily the fit. It's the prospects and whether the Jays can use them to find a piece that fits a little bit better, especially with the emergence of Brett Bateman. That's the decision. Folks, comment down below. Would you make a trade for Stephen Kwan? This has been a conversation now for years, and I think ultimately where I stand he would help this team but do you want to have Steven Kwan on left and Brett Bateman in right that is two-thirds 66% of your outfield that can't hit for power what do you do then you hope that Addison Berger in right field can kind of supplement some of the power do you go all contact I think this team and it's time for this team to change their hitting approach and go a bit more all-in on power and that seems what like Ross Atkins has said it seems like what Ross Atkins is going to do but like all these reports they get crazy and we're going to keep you up to every step of the way. So folks, the reports are escalating. The door is open. The question will be, do the Jays want to go after him? Let me know down below in the comments. You guys are absolute beasts with the support. Thank you guys for watching.