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 contract with a $16 million player option for 2026, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He is reportedly expected to return to the mound in the middle of 2025.
The deal reportedly pays Bieber $10 million for 2025 with a $4 million buyout of his player option. Per the New York Post’s Jon HeymanBieber had offers for more money elsewhere but chose to remain in Cleveland.
Bieber became an All-Star in 2019 and a 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 right shoulder subscapularis muscle strain, spent two months on the IL 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 MLB starters. However, at age 29, there are also signs beyond the injuries that his arsenal is degrading, such as a fastball velocity decrease from 94.1 mph in 2020 to 91.3 mph in 2023 (his 69 four-seamers in 2024 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% and 29.7% in those years. To be clear, though, he has been an above-average pitcher even in his down years, with a 3.80 ERA and 3.87 FIP in 2023.
Pitchers often return from Tommy John surgery looking like their old selves, but in Bieber’s case, he might be aiming for his self from two or three years ago. Fortunately, he’ll be doing so while wearing the same uniform.
