Shane Bieber will resume his career with the only team he has ever known.
The Cleveland Guardians ace, who is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, agreed to re-sign with the team on Friday on a one-year, $14 million contract with a $16 million player option for 2026, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He will reportedly return in mid-2025.
The appointment reportedly will pay Bieber $10 million through 2025 with a $4 million buyout for his player option. According to the Jon Heyman of the New York PostBieber had offers for more money elsewhere to stay in Cleveland.
Bieber became an All-Star winner in 2019 and a Cy Young winner in 2020, but has struggled to stay healthy in recent years. He missed half of the 2021 season with a right shoulder subscapularis strain, spent two months on the IL in 2021 with elbow inflammation and went under the knife to repair his UCL in April of this year.
When healthy, Bieber is among the best pitchers in baseball, with a 3.02 ERA since 2019, which ranks 15th among all MLB starters. At 29, though, there are signs beyond the injuries that his arsenal is waning, such as a drop in fastball velocity from 90 mph in 2020 to 90 mph in 2023 (his 69 four-seamers averaged speed of 150 km/h in 2024).
Bieber also went from striking out 41.1% of batters in 2020 to 20.1% in 2023, with chase rates increasing from 35.7% to 29.7% over those same years. To be clear, he has been an above-average pitcher even in those down years, with a 3.80 ERA and 3.87 FIP in 2023.
Pitchers often come back from Tommy John surgery looking like their old selves, but in Bieber’s case, he might be shooting for his old self from two or three years ago. Luckily, at least he does so while wearing the same uniform.
