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The Chicago Cubs have answered one of the biggest questions of the offseason by agreeing to a three-year, $80 million reunion with star slugger Cody Bellinger.
But their marquee roster additions could continue into the 2024 season, as Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicted that the team will land two-time All-Star Shane Bieber in a midseason trade with the Cleveland Guardians.
“Bieber is entering his final season before reaching free agency, and 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 reported. “We’ll let them work out the specifics (of a trade), but a couple months of Bieber pitching in Wrigley Field is a reasonable expectation.”
The Chicago Cubs Can Flip Some Outfield Depth for Cleveland Guardians Pitcher Shane Bieber
Miller also projected that the Cubs could flip some of their notable outfield depth in a trade for Bieber, who is set to earn $13.125 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent for 2025.
“They’ve got Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Mike Tauchman and Pete Crow-Armstrong all under team control for at least another three years, plus the recent re-signing of Cody Bellinger and highly touted outfield prospects in Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcántara,” Miller added.
Miller wrote that Tauchman alone could be enough to wrest Bieber from the Guardians in a one-for-one swap. In a six-year MLB career, the outfielder has a relatively pedestrian .239/.340/.377 slash line, but he’s owed just $1.95 million for 2024 before hitting his second year of arbitration.
If the Guardians are seeking to flip their veterans with an eye to the future, they may include another player along with Bieber and acquire a prospect like Caissie or Alcántara, two top-five members of the Cubs’ farm system from 2023.
Caissie is a 21-year-old corner outfielder who slashed a powerful .289/.399/.519 in 439 at bats in Double-A last season. And Alcántara plays centerfield and right field, slashing .284/.345/.466 as he ascended through the ranks in 391 at bats across the Arizona Complex League, High-A and Double-A in 2023.
Shane Bieber Would Bring a Veteran Presence to the Chicago Cubs Rotation
Meanwhile, Bieber could be a difference maker for a Cubs team that seems to have its sights set on an NL Central championship and a deep playoff run next season after spending big on Bellinger.
Bieber’s career accolades include a Gold Glove Award in 2022 and an outstanding 2020 Cy Young season in which he won the Triple Crown by leading the AL in wins, ERA and strikeouts, and earned All-MLB First Team honors.
Though he hasn’t maintained that level of dominance in the years since, Bieber has the chance to lead the Cubs rotation or serve as a strong option behind the newly-acquired Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele or Jameson Taillon.
The ZiPS model projects Bieber to go for a 3.52 ERA and 9.16 K/9 in 189 innings next season. That volume would have put him above any Cubs starter from 2023 and that ERA and K/9 would have seen him firmly in the middle of the pack.
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