Shane Bieber Trade: Yankees tipped as potential landing spot for Cy Young winner by MLB insider
Shane Bieber is said to be on the trade block this winter but there has been little movement on the subject thus far. However, after missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency, the New York Yankees have been actively looking for pitching help. They have been linked to free agents Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell and Josh Hader, but are also said to be looking at Bieber.
The Cleveland Guardians are said to be open to the idea of trading Bieber, but only for the right price, which could be a stumbling block. The market for the pitcher is not said to be as great as the Guardians were hoping for and as such, a compromise might be in the pipeline sooner rather than later.
Bleacher Report's Zachary Rymer recently listed the Texas Rangers as the best landing spot for Shane Bieber, with the next best being the Yankees and Chicago Cubs.
As the Guardians appear to be looking to rebuild, they are interested in trading the 2020 Cy Young winner, but their asking price is a problem.
Guardians may need to drop their asking price to attract suitors for Shane Bieber
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic gave an update on Shane Bieber's situation with the Guardians while speaking on the "Foul Territory" podcast. He believes that there is not much interest in the pitcher at Cleveland's asking price due to Bieber's diminishing velocity:
"I don't know that it's going to happen, the reason is that Bieber has lost velocity since 2020 really almost every year. So as one exec put it to me, 'I'm not sure that anyone is going to be that interested in Shane Bieber at the price the Guardians likely would request.'
"If you package [Bieber] with let's say Emmanuel Clase, who's been another player they've discussed, then you get into a more interesting conversation."
The exact asking price has not been revealed, however, multiple reports suggest that it is too high. If, as Rosenthal suggested, Bieber becomes part of a multiple-player trade, then the situation becomes murkier than ever.
However, the pitcher is entering his final year before becoming a free agent and his projected $12.2 million arbitration is 14.28% of the team's Opening Day payroll. As such, the Guardians might want to cash in on Bieber while they can.