The Cleveland Guardians have been treading water over the past couple of weeks, mostly alternating wins and losses, which has been enough to hold onto the third and final AL Wild Card spot in what has been a top-heavy league all year. Cleveland fell 4-3 to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday and will look to avoid slipping back to .500 in the series finale on Sunday as the fans beg for somebody to step up and lead this team on a nice run down the stretch.
The backbone of this team has once again been the pitching staff, but the starting rotation has been a bit hit or miss of late, which largely explains the team’s inconsistency over the past two weeks. One thing the rotation has had going for it is availability as the Guardians have had the luxury of using the same rotation all year as Parker Messick, Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo, and Tanner Bibee will all make 30+ starts while the fifth spot transitioned from Slade Cecconi to Foster Griffin at the trade deadline. Because of that youth and consistency, it’s tough to envision the rotation changing much over the next few years.
Paul Hoynes recently answered mailbag questions for Cleveland.com and one of those questions was about whether or not former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber could find himself back in Cleveland this offseason. Bieber is heading into free agency, but Hoynes called it a longshot due to his injury problems of late.
“I’d never say never, but I think that would be a longshot. Bieber had a great career in Cleveland, but he’s had injury problems the last two years stemming from the Tommy John surgery he had with the Guardians,” Hoynes wrote.
Bieber has made just 11 starts this season for the Toronto Blue Jays and hasn’t pitched a full season since he was in Cleveland in 2022. Since then, he has undergone a rough four-year stretch filled with arm troubles and inconsistency, and while that would likely make him fairly cheap in free agency, the Guardians don’t have a big need for someone like that right now.
This current rotation will all be returning next year unless the Guardians decide to pivot. Williams and Messick have emerged as two of the best young starters in the league and Cantillo and Cecconi continue to improve. Griffin will be hitting free agency if the team wants to either bring him back or replace him with another external option, but it would be surprising if Bieber was atop that list.
Perhaps the Guardians feel like they could fix him, but given all Bieber has been through, this probably isn’t a risk worth taking.
NEXT: 2 Reasons Why Tanner Bibee Might Not Make Postseason Rotation
