Forgotten outfield trade candidate should remind Dodgers fans it’s not Tucker-or-bust

For months, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfield conversation has revolved primarily around one name: Kyle Tucker.

Every rumor, every hot-stove whisper, every “Dodgers are lurking” report has pointed toward the superstar slugger as the missing piece. And sure — Tucker may very well be a franchise-altering bat and the kind of player who changes October math. But the fixation on Tucker has quietly buried another name that may actually make more sense for where this roster is right now:

Steven Kwan.

Remember him?

Last July, the Dodgers and the Cleveland Guardians were close on a trade involving the outfielder––so close that it nearly crossed the finish line. But just because it didn't happen then doesn’t mean it’s dead now, especially not for a team coming off its second straight World Series and still staring at a glaring hole in left field.

Michael Conforto was supposed to stabilize that spot in 2025. Instead, it became one of the few soft spots on an otherwise dominant roster. The offense lagged. The defense wobbled. The bar for improvement isn’t theoretical — it’s obvious. And Kwan would obliterate it.

He’s not a middle-of-the-order thunderbolt, but that’s not what the Dodgers need. They already have Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and a lineup that bludgeons pitchers into submission.

What they need is balance. Precision. Someone who shortens games instead of trying to end them with one swing. Kwan is exactly that.

Steven Kwan may be a better fit for the Dodgers' lineup than Kyle Tucker

In 2025, Kwan hit .272/.330/.374 with elite contact skills, an 8.7% strikeout rate that ranked among the best in baseball, and 21 stolen bases. He puts the ball in play. He wins at-bats. He pressures defenses. And he plays elite left-field defense — something the Dodgers sorely lacked.

Plug him into this lineup and suddenly every inning becomes suffocating. Betts, Ohtani, Freeman… and then Kwan, fouling off pitches, flipping singles the other way, turning routine innings into 20-pitch grinds. That’s not just good baseball. That’s playoff baseball.

The beauty is that the Dodgers don’t have to choose between stars and sustainability. They’re uniquely positioned to make a trade like this without flinching. No farm system in baseball can match their depth. No contender can more easily outbid Cleveland while still protecting its long-term core.

That’s what makes the “Tucker-or-bust” framing so misguided.

If Tucker is a sledgehammer, Kwan is a scalpel. One is louder. One is cleaner. Both win games.

And the Dodgers don’t need to force a singular outcome. They don’t need to gamble on one blockbuster to define their offseason. They can be surgical. They can be opportunistic. They can revisit a deal that almost happened once already—and finish it this time.

Kwan isn’t the flashy answer, but he still may be the correct one. In a lineup built on stars, he’d be the piece that makes everything fit.