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MLB Trade Deadline 2025: 3 Instant Takeaways to Blue Jays Acquiring Shane Bieber

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 11:11 AM ET

Suddenly, Justin Bieber isn’t the most important Bieber in Canada.

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired Cleveland Guardians veteran starting pitcher Shane Bieber on Thursday morning, only hours before the trade deadline. Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner, has not pitched an MLB game since April 2024 because of Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Bieber recorded a 1.59 ERA and a 21-1 K-BB ratio in 11 1/3 innings across four minor-league rehab starts. Toronto sent 2024 second-round pick and promising young starting pitcher Khal Stephen to Cleveland.

Here are Athlon Sports’ initial takeaways to the Shane Bieber trade:

1. The Blue Jays are going all-in, and we love it

Toronto entered Thursday with a four-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East. Only five games separate the first-place Blue Jays and third-place Red Sox in what could become a thrilling three-team division race.

Shane Bieber, 92mph Fastball and 85mph Slider, Individual Pitches + Overlay.

Immaculate Tunneling pic.twitter.com/9KzwS9uxzd
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 3, 2024

There’s no better time, then, for the Blue Jays to be aggressive and make it clear that they plan to win the AL East. The days of Toronto settling for a Wild Card spot are long over — and if the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extension didn’t prove that, then let the Bieber trade erase any lingering doubts.

2. Despite his injuries, Bieber is actually a safe option

Two things can be true: We don’t know how Bieber will fare after Tommy John surgery, and we’d rather have him than the Miami Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara. Bieber posted 16.0 bWAR and a 3.07 ERA for the Guardians from 2019-23, and that includes his 2020 Cy Young season.

Although it’s easy to dismiss many of the shortened season’s numbers, let the record show that Bieber recorded a 122-21 K-BB ratio in 77 1/3 innings that summer. He’s a proven competitor who, when healthy, ranked among the sport’s more underrated starters.

Alcantara, meanwhile, has a 6.36 ERA and -1.3 bWAR in 109 innings. The Blue Jays may have dodged a bullet in Alcantara, who is walking 3.5 hitters per nine innings.

Shane Bieber, Nasty 89mph Changeup.

9th K pic.twitter.com/2rklVTwGRR
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 29, 2024

If the Jays can get any semblance of the old Bieber in the coming weeks, then they’ll have an excellent chance at their first division title since 2015.

3. Party like it’s 2015!

Speaking of that 2015 season, the Blue Jays committed to a playoff push when they acquired former Cy Young winner David Price from the Detroit Tigers that July. Price carried the Jays to the playoffs, going 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA and 2.6 bWAR in 74 1/3 innings down the stretch.

By no means are we suggesting that Bieber will enjoy the same success. However, Bieber’s status as a premier arm with postseason experience and a Cy Young under his belt is one that the Blue Jays know all too well.

Those 2015 Blue Jays reached the ALCS for the first time in over 30 years. What do these Blue Jays have planned?

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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