The Cleveland Guardians can certainly enter the 2024 campaign with Shane Bieber on their roster.
However, they are prepared to trade him: he is in his last season of team control, he is projected to make a little over $12 million, and a potential contract extension looks like a pipe dream at this point.
They also have depth and quality in their staff and could use a bat or two, so the idea is to flip Bieber somewhere else for offensive reinforcements.
So far, there hasn’t been a deal, probably because teams are scared about his elbow inflammation in 2023 and because the Guardians want more than what the league is offering.
Bieber used to be a bona fide ace, with an incredible ability to miss bats.
In fact, numbers say he is the owner of the single season with the highest strikeout rate in the history of the league among qualified starters.
“Highest strikeout rate in qualified season: 2020 Shane Bieber: 41.1%, 2019 Gerrit Cole: 39.9%, 2020 Jacob deGrom: 38.8%, 1999 Pedro Martínez: 37.5%, 2001 Randy Johnson: 37.4%, 2023 Spencer Strider: 36.8%,” MLB stats expert Sarah Langs tweeted.
Highest strikeout rate in qualified season:
2020 Shane Bieber: 41.1%
2019 Gerrit Cole: 39.9%
2020 Jacob deGrom: 38.8%
1999 Pedro Martínez: 37.5%
2001 Randy Johnson: 37.4%
2023 Spencer Strider: 36.8%— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) January 2, 2024
Of course, the 2020 campaign shouldn’t carry the same weight as any other full season, but he was the best of the bunch that year under fair and equal conditions.
That 41.1 percent strikeout rate was mightily impressive and one of the main reasons he won the Cy Young award that year.
Unfortunately, Bieber is not that pitcher anymore.
He posted a 3.80 ERA in 2023, in 128 innings.
That number is not as problematic as his 20.1 percent strikeout rate.
It went from 41.1 percent in 2020 to 33.1 percent in 2021 to 25 percent in 2022 to 20.1 percent this past season.
That’s the trend that worries teams the most, and probably the reason why he hasn’t been traded yet.
NEXT: Analyst Suggests Mock Shane Bieber Trade To Cubs
