Surprise Rebuke: Guardians Game Draws Surprisingly…
The Cleveland Guardians’ starting rotation was a mess this season, and much of that was due to the fact that their best pitcher went down early on.
Shane Bieber made just two starts before succumbing to an elbow injury that required the Tommy John surgery, which will likely keep him on the shelf until mid-2025.
The catch is that Bieber is a free agent this offseason, and the Guardians seem to stand a rather significant chance of losing him.
But just how coveted with the injury-prone right-hander be this winter?
Keith Law of The Athletic recently released his list of the top 50 MLB free agents, and Bieber came in surprisingly low at No. 32.
Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2024, which will probably keep him out for part of the 2025 season but not all of it, barring a setback in his rehab,” Law wrote. “In 2022, he was one of the top-10 pitchers in baseball, racking up 4.8 fWAR across 200 innings, but his elbow started to bother him in 2023 and he both missed time and lost effectiveness on his breaking stuff as a consequence.
For reference, a hefty 16 pitchers were placed ahead of him in the rankings, which comes as somewhat of a surprise given just how good Bieber is when he is healthy.
Of course, the fact that he will likely miss the first couple of months of next season may have played a role in Law’s ranking, and Bieber returning to his old self after such a major procedure is no guarantee.
The 29-year-old broke into the big leagues with Cleveland in 2018 and has pitched to the tune of a 3.22 ERA over 136 appearances and 134 career starts. He won the AL Cy Young award during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign when he went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA across 12 outings.
Perhaps the Guardians will be able to retain Bieber on a one-plus-one deal with an option for Year 2.
