Cleveland Guardians rumors: Shane Bieber trade unlikely to happen

The chances that the Cleveland Guardians would trade Shane Bieber this season took a massive hit once he landed on the injured list last week. While there still could have been a remote chance that the team dealt the former Cy Young Award winner, those chances are now non-existent.

A report from The Athletic's Zack Meisel includes an inquiry about the chances of Cleveland trading Bieber between now and the deadline. According to a source in his report "There’s no chance.". This is not exactly a surprise given Bieber's injury and a comment from Guardians president Chris Antonetti. Antonetti noted that it will take some time before Bieber returns to the club even though the news they received in regards to his injury is considered good to some degree.

Even if the Guardians were actively looking to shop Bieber, it is not exactly like he would be an instant contributor for his new team if dealt. The time required in order for Bieber to be ready to help out a hypothetical new team is not brief. It could take at least a month barring any sort of setback that Bieber may experience during this process.

Another thing to consider is that the Guardians asking price for Bieber is not likely to be met. The combination of his recent injury history and his very notable decline in velocity is going to result in Cleveland getting much less in return than they have in previous notable trades of rotation arms. This could result in a lack of motivation from their perspective to actually pull the trigger on moving Bieber prior to this deadline. That is if the prospect of trading Bieber was actually on the table and not at the current no chance status.

There will still be a decision to make about Bieber after this season is over. The Guardians may not be able or willing to meet what Bieber will be seeking in his third and final year that he is arbitration eligible. That could lead to the team being more aggressive in trade talks prior to next season or next season's trade deadline. The front office has to very careful when it comes to this approach should they decide to trade Bieber as the return will lessen as each day passes, but that is a long way down the road and is more of a conversation for a later date.