5 trade options the Cleveland Guardians could target to fill Shane Bieber's spot in the rotation

2. Ross Stripling - Oakland Athletics

Keeping in theme with teams that could experience some difficulty in the wins department, the Oakland Athletics may be a team worth reaching out to, as they may be looking to cut their salary even more before their upcoming move to Sacramento. The Athletics could look to get out ahead of having additional self-inflicted cash flow issues by trading someone with a $12.5 million salary this year in Ross Stripling.

Stripling has bounced around quite a bit since debuting with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016 and has had trouble finding consistency on the mound, often alternating between good and bad seasons (2024 is set to be a good year if that pattern continues).

The one troubling thing with Stripling is that his strikeout rate has dropped in nearly every season since 2018 from 10.0 to his current 6.8 this season, with the lone exception being his 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings in 2021. However, acquiring Stripling would not be about attempting to insert a high-strikeout pitcher into their rotation. It would be about finding a way to stabilize the talent floor following the loss of Shane Bieber. Stripling could be a low-cost option to bring some much-needed stability and limit the innings pitched by the bullpen.