Guardians Rumors: MLB insider says Shane Bieber is ‘available’ at the trade deadline

And here we go. 

After a slow trickle of trade rumors over the past five days, the trade rumor season is beginning to reach a fever pitch as we get closer and closer to the July 31 trade deadline.

As a part of that, ESPN’s Jeff Passan put out a new story highlighting where all 30 teams stand at the trade deadline, where he provided some interesting insight into the Guardians’ thinking heading into the deadline. 

The Guardians could be looking to trade Shane Bieber 

The biggest piece of information from Passan’s story came in regard to Shane Bieber, who is currently on the 60-day injured list but appears to be gaining some trade deadline interest. 

“If Cleveland senses the opportunity for value, it will jump. If not, its impending free agents -- Carlos Santana, Lane Thomas, Paul Sewald, Jakob Junis -- will be the focus. One player to keep an eye on: Former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, made his first start Tuesday at High-A Lake County and is available. Bieber's $16 million player option for next year is an impediment, certainly, but if his stuff is good enough, high-payroll teams could see him as a risk worth taking,” Passan writes. 

Passan floating Santana, Thomas, Sewald and Junis as trade deadline candidates isn't a huge surprise, but the information about Bieber is a surprising new update. While we’ve already highlighted how the Guardians could pull off a trade for Bieber, this is the first time we’ve heard Bieber’s name in serious trade rumors. 

He looked great the last time he was on the mound in April 2024, but he’s been on the shelf since after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He began a rehab assignment at the beginning of June before being shut down with elbow soreness.

The good news is that he seems to be healthy after a month off and struck out four across 40 pitches in a rehab start for High-A Lake County yesterday. If all goes well, it seems like he’s on pace for a mid-August MLB return. 

It now remains to be seen if that return could be for the Guardians. 

It’s worth noting that a trade of Bieber would be a bit different from the kind of move the Guardians normally make. While they’re great at making winning moves on the margins, they’ve now dedicated 15+ months to Bieber’s rehab (along with the nine years of work they’ve put in since they drafted him) and trading him would flush that away.

If they do trade him, it should only be if they’re able to get an incredible return in exchange. 

The Guardians rotation has benefited from strong pitching from Logan Allen and Joey Cantillo, but Bieber is a clear upgrade over both of them. 

It seems clear that the Guardians are going to make some kind of deal at the deadline and will likely need to replace some trade deadline-generated hole on their roster. 

It looks like there’s a chance that hole could be in their starting pitcher depth.