The Cleveland Guardians recently reached an extension agreement with right-hander Tanner Bibee.
For weeks, even months, fans expressed their concern about the fact Cleveland hadn’t reinvested the money it saved with the Andrés Giménez and Myles Straw trades.
Yes, they brought in Carlos Santana and some interesting low-cost fliers, but they were missing the big move that most analysts believed would come.
Bibee was the chosen one, and he put pen to paper on a five-year deal that guarantees him $48 million, with the potential for more.
Guardians insider Jensen Lewis, who played for the franchise in the late 2000s, recently offered his take on the move.
“You have your ace of the future, and of the present,” Lewis said, via the BIGPLAY Cleveland Show.
Tanner Bibee got paid! #ForTheLand
"You have your ace of the future… and of the present."
presented by https://t.co/qwevEk6zgO pic.twitter.com/sBl00w4CL5
— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) March 26, 2025
Bibee is just 26 years old, so the Guardians, in theory, will get most of his prime before he can test the open market at 31 or 32, depending on if the team picks up a club option for a sixth year.
As Lewis states, Bibee is not just the future of Cleveland pitching, he is a very solid pitcher right now.
With a 2.98 ERA as a rookie and a 3.47 ERA (plus 187 strikeouts) in his second year, the Guardians saw enough to commit some important money to him.
He will be asked to lead the rotation for as long as Shane Bieber is out rehabbing his elbow injury, and recent history suggests Bibee is good enough for the assignment.
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