Shane Bieber will resume his career with the only team he has ever known.
The Cleveland Guardians ace, currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, agreed Friday to re-sign with the team on a one-year, $14 million deal with a $16 million player option for 2026, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He is reportedly expected to return to the mound in mid-2025.
The deal reportedly pays Bieber $10 million by 2025 with a $4 million buyout of his player option. According to the Jon Heyman of the New York PostBieber received offers for more money elsewhere, but decided to remain in Cleveland.
Bieber became an All-Star in 2019 and Cy Young winner in 2020, but has struggled to stay healthy in the years since. He missed half of the 2021 season due to a subscapularis muscle strain in his right shoulder, spent two months on the disabled list in 2021 due to elbow inflammation, and went under the knife to repair his UCL in April of this year.
When healthy, Bieber has been among the best pitchers in baseball, with a 3.02 ERA since 2019 that ranks 15th among all MLB starters. However, at 29 years old, there are also signs beyond injuries that his arsenal is degrading, such as a decline in fastball velocity from 94.1 mph in 2020 to 91.3 mph in 2023 (his 69 four-seamer in 2024 They averaged 92 mph).
Bieber also went from striking out 41.1% of batters in 2020 to 20.1% in 2023, with chase rates of 35.7% to 29.7% those same years. To be clear, he’s been an above-average pitcher even in those bad years, with a 3.80 ERA and 3.87 FIP in 2023.
Pitchers often return from Tommy John surgery looking like their old self, but in Bieber’s case, he could be aiming for his old self from two or three years ago. Fortunately, at least he will do it in the same uniform.