Blue Jays update shows Guardians were smart to get out of Shane Bieber business 

At this time last year, Shane Bieber was one of the biggest wild cards on the Guardians’ roster. While he had re-upped with the Guardians on a one-year, $14 million during the previous offseason, he was still working his way back from the Tommy John surgery. 

Bieber never ended up appearing for the Guardians in 2025, as he spent the first half of the season continuing his rehab before Cleveland’s front office traded him to the Blue Jays at the deadline for pitching prospect Khal Stephen. 

And although he returned mid-way through the season and pitched well for the Blue Jays down the stretch, his checkered injury history popped up once again this offseason due to shoulder fatigue. 

The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon was asked about that injury during a reader Q&A he had earlier in the week, where he said that he would be “surprised” if Bieber pitched for the Blue Jays in April as he works his way back from that shoulder fatigue.

While his injury situation isn’t as severe as it was last year when he was recovering from Tommy John, Bieber having his short-term future adjusted due to injury should be nothing new to Guardians fans. 

Former Guardian Shane Bieber will start the season on the injured list for the Blue Jays 

Bieber’s injury resulted in a huge ripple effect for the Blue Jays that ended up changing the free agency landscape. Bieber surprised everyone in baseball by picking up his player option not long after last season ended, and it quickly became clear that he did so because of shoulder fatigue. 

As a result, the Blue Jays spent the offseason retooling their starting rotation, starting with signing Dylan Cease to a seven-year contract. And although they have more starters than spots, they may need to rely on an unheralded arm in Eric Lauer thanks to Bieber being unable to go at the start of the season. 

Meanwhile the Guardians are navigating a rotation crunch of their own without having to worry about Bieber hanging over it. Don’t get us wrong; having Shane Bieber on your roster is a good thing. But you also can’t bank on him making 30+ starts at this point in his career, which is why the Blue Jays spent so much money on their rotation this offseason. 

The Guardians wouldn’t be able to do that. So, instead of trying to fit Bieber into their rotation, they just decided to turn the rotation over to the young kids.

It worked. Not only have Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams become aces, but Joey Cantillo, Parker Messick and Slade Cecconi have all begun to turn into interesting and talented arms

Bieber will always be held in high regard in Cleveland for what he did during his time with the Guardians, but the front office was smart to trade him when they did.