With Cody Bellinger, the talented slugger, the Chicago Cubs have addressed one of the main offseason questions by agreeing to a three-year, $80 million reunion.
However, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report projected that the team will acquire two-time All-Star Shane Bieber in a midseason trade with the Cleveland Guardians, meaning that their spectacular roster upgrades might extend into the 2024 campaign.
“There’s just no chance Cleveland will be able to sign the 29-year-old 2020 AL Cy Young winner to a long-term contract,” Miller stated. “Bieber is entering his final season before reaching free agency.” “We’ll let them work out the details (of a trade), but it’s reasonable to expect Bieber to pitch in Wrigley Field for a few months.”
Pitcher Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians can be sent to the Chicago Cubs for some outfield depth.Â
Miller further predicted that the Bieber, who is scheduled to make $13.125 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2025, may be acquired by the Cubs in exchange for some of their considerable outfield depth.
“With the recent re-signing of Cody Bellinger and highly touted outfield prospects in Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcántara, they have Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Mike Tauchman, and Pete Crow-Armstrong all under team control for at least another three years,” Miller continued.
In a one-for-one trade, Miller said that Tauchman might be sufficient to remove Bieber from the Guardians. The outfielder’s six-year MLB career has been largely uneventful.239/.340/.377 slash line, but before entering his second year of arbitration, he is only owed $1.95 million for 2024.
With an eye toward the future, the Guardians may trade Bieber for another player in order to obtain a prospect like Alcántara or Caissie, two of the top five players in the Cubs’ 2023 farm system.
The 21-year-old Caissie is a corner outfielder who had a strong season at Double-A, slashing.289/.399/.519 in 439 at-bats. Alcántara is a centerfielder and right fielder who advanced up the levels in 391 at-bats throughout the Arizona Complex League, High-A, and Double-A in 2023, slashing.284/.345/.466.
The Chicago Cubs Rotation Would Gain Experienced Presence with Shane BieberÂ
After spending a lot of money on Bellinger, the Cubs appear to have set their sights on winning the NL Central and making a deep postseason push the next season. Bieber, however, might make a significant impact for the organization.
Among Bieber’s career achievements are a 2022 Gold Glove Award and an incredible 2020 Cy Young season, during which he led the AL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts to win the Triple Crown and be named to the All-MLB First Team.
Even though he hasn’t been as dominant in the past, Bieber still has the ability to be the starter in the Cubs rotation or a reliable backup for Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele, or the recently acquired Shota Imanaga.
The ZiPS model predicts that in 189 innings pitched next season, Bieber will have a 3.52 ERA and a 9.16 K/9 rate. His output would have positioned him above of all Cubs starting pitchers in 2023, while his ERA and K/9 would have placed him squarely in the middle of the pack.
