3 Cleveland Guardians that may be gone after the 2022 MLB trade deadline

2. RHP Shane Bieber

Just three years removed from being slotted at No. 4 in the AL MVP voting and winning the Cy Young award, Shane Bieber has struggled at times this season, resulting in his name being tossed around in trade rumors.

Inconsistency has been one key word to describe his 2022 campaign.

Bieber is 4-6 on the season, allowing 102 hits, 44 earned runs, 12 home runs, and 26 walks in 111 innings pitched.

Compared to his 2020 CY Young campaign where he allowed just 46 hits, 14 earned runs, seven home runs, and 21 walks in 77 innings pitched, it’s a drastic drop-off.

Although the innings pitched is much different from 111 to 77, his hits allowed this season is heading towards being either the most or second-most in his career.

He has also seen his velocity dip, and is averaging only roughly 91 miles per hour on his fastball, which is down three miles per hour since his 2020 season.

While he has pitched one complete game this year, he has not been able to win and close out games in recent weeks.

Throughout the month of July, Bieber is 1-2, posting a 3.41 ERA. Since April, Bieber has had under a 3.00 ERA one time and that came back on June 8th, showcasing that this may be one of his most inconsistent seasons to date.

Well, Shane Bieber has been a cornerstone for years now; why would we move on from him?

Moving on from Bieber would NOT be something unheard of.

While it’s unlikely to happen, the Cleveland Guardians front office has been very easygoing in letting go of star players for the right price.

Bieber has been inconsistent this year, but the reason for moving on from him could be the fact that outside of his rookie season, he is pitching the worst season of his career, and if that continues his stock will drastically fall.

Moving on from him now could hold as a safety net for Cleveland to get as much out of him now as possible.

Bieber’s trade value can be determined pretty easily.

Cleveland will not move on from the former CY Young winner unless they get an All-Star or two, highly touted prospects, or both an All-Star and a highly ranked prospect in return.

With two more seasons on his contract after the 2022 season, his trade stock should be high for most teams, and with his play dipping this year, moving on from the one-time MVP contender while his stock is still high should be a move the Guardians front office explores.

Although, if Cleveland does move on from a starting pitcher, the likeliness of one of the others instantly goes to zero. The Guardians will not move on from two starting pitchers this trade deadline.