After losing Matthew Boyd to the Cubs, the Cleveland Guardians must be aggressive in attempts to keep Shane Bieber

To some degree, there has been somewhat of an expectation that the Cleveland Guardians would not be able to retain the services of both Shane Bieber and Matthew Boyd. With Boyd agreeing to a two-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, the time is now for the Guardians to be aggressive in their efforts to keep Bieber in Cleveland.

Not counting a potential re-signing with Bieber, the Guardians' rotation is still pretty shaky. Cleveland has one pitcher in Tanner Bibee who can be counted on, with the rest being a group of castoffs and misfits. Finding a way to improve upon a group consisting of Bibee, Gavin WIlliams, Ben Lively, Triston McKenzie, and Logan Allen is an absolute must, considering the latter two may not even factor into their major league starting five.

There is some risk to signing Bieber that will considered in Cleveland's decision-making process here. The former Cy Young Award winner is coming off of a season in which he made only two starts before undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery. Bieber is expected to miss some of the 2025 season while he is still recovering and working his way back to playing shape. This could be weighted heavily by Cleveland's front office while they decide what they are going to do with Bieber, as they may not be interested in making a large financial commitment to someone who will not be available from the start of the season.

Another point of concern that has been the heavily discussed drop in velocity and strikeout numbers before this past season. While both areas did improve in his abbreviated 2024, Bieber's fastball averaged 91.3 MPH in 2022 and 2023 with his strikeouts per nine inings sitting at 8.9 in 2022 and 7.5 in 2023. Both of these trends are incredibly alarming and may be a more accurate indicator than his 92 MPH fastball and 15 strikeouts per nine innings from last season.

Would re-signing Bieber go against the Guardians' risk-averse nature when it comes to the way they operate? Sure, but this is a team that has an open contention window, and they need to capitalize on it now before it is gone. Bieber may not be the same pitcher he was in 2024 again, but even adding the 2022 and 2023 versions would be a significant upgrade over any non-Bibee arm for Cleveland, and that is what the focus should be in their immediate team-building plans. The Guardians need to push their chips into the middle of the table and make an offer that Bieber has no choice but to accept.