"It's Mind-Blowing!": Guardians Young Star Open To Long-Term Extension

At the age of 24, he came up to Cleveland and made his major league debut with a bang in 2022, hitting .354 out of the gate for the entire month of April. And now, after being "starry-eyed" about it all last year, Steven Kwan is ready to talk long-term extension with the Cleveland Guardians.

Per Zach Maisel of The Athletic, Kwan says "'it’s mind-blowing' that such a topic can be mentioned with a straight face and not seem preposterous."

Kwan wound up batting .298 in his freshman year in the big leagues, with 19 stolen bases, a .373 on-base percentage, and incredibly for a first-year player, more walks than strikeouts (62:60). He finished 3rd in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Those numbers stack up historically for a first-year player.

38 days until Guardians Opening Day.

#38 Steven Kwan.

Only Steven Kwan, Kenny Lofton, and Ichrio Suzuki have achieved ALL of the below stats as a rookie in the last 100 years:

160+ Hits
5.0+ WAR
15+ Stolen Bases
60 Strikeouts or Fewer

pic.twitter.com/YDFCdze2ux
— Cleveland Stats (@CLE_STATS) February 20, 2023

“Last year I made a big point to really soak up a lot of stuff, be starry-eyed, be really shocked at where I was,” he said. “I think that was a good place to be, but I also lost out on some opportunities because I was like, ‘How lucky am I to be here?’ Now, I’ll take some more initiative.”

And if that initiative can land him a long-term deal, he'd be thrilled—not "starry-eyed" anymore, but safe to say, "mind-blowing."

Photo: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports