Apr 12, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
These three teams need to check in with the Cleveland Guardians and make a trade offer for pitcher Shane Bieber right now.
The Cleveland Guardians are still in the playoff picture yet based on their very limited offseason action, we shouldn’t expect them to go very far. Things are early and being alive and well within the American League Central—the division with the two worst teams in the entire American League—shouldn’t give them much to boast about. For this reason, they should already be shopping star pitcher Shane Bieber.
The 2020 American League Cy Young winner wasn’t able to defend his crown in 2021 due to injuries which limited him to only 16 starts. However, now through 86 starts and a pair of relief appearances, the 26-year-old is 42-20 with a 3.34 ERA all going to waste with a rebuilding Cleveland club. While they were able to secure an extension with star third baseman Jose Ramirez, the same may not be true for Bieber. Owed $6 million this season, he is still in the prime of his career and a guy many teams will be asking about by the trade deadline.
Why wait? The shortened offseason due to the MLB lockout stole many chances for clubs to swap players. Given this, an earlier than usual trade involving a player of Bieber’s caliber shouldn’t be out of the question. How much can a phone call hurt anyway? These three teams need to at least check in with the Guardians and see if they can blow them away with a deal.
The Atlanta Braves are one team in need of an arm like Shane Bieber
The defending champion Atlanta Braves manage to strike with some savvy deals at last year’s trade deadline to boost the lineup. This year, it could be pitching they seek along with a bat or two.
Add Shane Bieber into the Braves rotation and suddenly they feel a lot more like the contenders many thought they would be. The club hasn’t gotten much out of Charlie Morton this year and is currently trying to figure out exactly who will join the younger trio of Max Fried, Kyle Wright, and Ian Anderson. The Braves actually have one of the worst starting pitcher ERAs in the game, ranking 26th as of the start of action on Thursday, May 12.
Bieber is the kind of big move the Braves should be looking to make to keep the fan base believing. The franchise has been a little cheap in some regards, even going as far as to take Austin Riley to arbitration.
With whatever resources they have left to make a deal, Atlanta needs to throw their best offer at Cleveland and see how much the Guardians budge.