Blue Jays acquire former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber from Guardians

The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired a starting pitcher.

Down to the final hours of the 2025 MLB trade deadline, the Blue Jays have added to their starting rotation, acquiring Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for minor league starter and 2024 second-round pick Khal Stephen, one of Toronto’s top pitching prospects.

Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2024 after making just two starts to begin that campaign. In those two starts, however, Bieber looked sharp, striking out 20 hitters versus only one walk and not allowing any runs in 12 innings of work. It was an abrupt and frustrating end to the season for Bieber, who also dealt with elbow inflammation for part of the 2023 season.

As far as his rehab goes, Bieber made his first minor league appearance on May 31st before experiencing a setback with soreness in his elbow. Thankfully, it was not enough to keep him away from any more baseball this season, and he has made three rehab starts this month. Most recently, he pitched four innings at Double-A Akron on Tuesday, allowing three hits, one run, seven strikeouts, and one HBP over 59 innings of work.

Bieber’s surgery was rather inconvenient given that he was set to be a free agent after the 2024 season. He re-signed with the Guardians last winter on a one-year deal worth $14 million with a $16 million player option for 2026. His deal this season has a base salary of $10 million with a $4 million buyout if the option is not exercised.

When healthy, Bieber has had a very successful big league career. The 30-year-old California native won a Cy Young award in 2020 after posting an 8-1 record, 1.63 ERA, 14.2 K/9, all MLB-bests. His most recent full season was in 2022 when he owned a 2.88 ERA, 8.9 K/9, and 1.04 WHIP across 31 starts with a Gold Glove award to his name.

Bieber features a low-90s fastball with several secondary pitches, including a cutter, slider, knuckle curve and changeup. In 2023, three of his offspeed/breaking pitches generated a whiff rate of 30%, but the slider and knuckle curve have historically been the pitches with the most swing-and-miss.

There’s a high risk with the recent injury history, but the track record also provides a potential high reward. Bieber has posted great results through his rehab starts, and with his postseason experience, this could be an arm the Blue Jays have to start a playoff game for them.

In regards to the return, Stephen has been a fast riser in Toronto’s system this year. In what has been his first season in professional ball, he’s pitched across three levels in the organization, reaching as high as Double-A New Hampshire. Despite his lone start with the Fisher Cats being a tough one, he still has posted a 2.06 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 9.7 K/9 over 91 2/3 innings this season. Stephen was ranked fifth in MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Blue Jays prospects.