The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Shane Bieber from the Guardians in exchange for pitching prospect Khal Stephen, according to announcements from both clubs. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported on the deal prior to the official announcement. Bieber is on the 60-day injured list and won’t require an immediate 40-man roster spot with the Jays.
Bieber hasn’t pitched in a major league game since April of 2024. Shortly after that, he required Tommy John surgery. He hit free agency after last season and re-signed with the Guardians. It was a two-year, $26MM deal but with the second season being a player option. He is making $10MM here in 2025 and then the option is valued at $16MM with a $4MM buyout.
That deal reflected the uncertainty around Bieber. He was clearly going to miss some time to start the 2025 campaign but was certainly a possibility for a second-half return. The deal allowed him to bank some notable earnings, with the second year being a safety net for the event he experienced setbacks in his recovery. But if he came back and returned to his dominant form or even just a pretty good form, he would have the chance to return to free agency and secure a larger guarantee.
The uncertainty is still present now. Bieber started a rehab assignment in late May and was targeting a late June return. That didn’t come to pass. After just one rehab outing, he was shut down due to renewed elbow soreness. He restarted his rehab in the middle of July. He has made three rehab starts in the past few weeks, building from two innings in the first game to three and four innings in the subsequent appearances. In his nine total innings over those three games, he allowed two earned runs with 16 strikeouts, one walk, one hit-by-pitch and six hits allowed.
It’s a notable gamble by the Jays. Bieber is a real wild card, having not pitched in a big league game in so long. Even before the surgery, there were signs he was trending in the wrong direction. The contract adds an extra element of risk. If Bieber re-aggravates his elbow or suffers any other kind of serious injury, he’ll trigger his player option and stick around and put some more money on Toronto’s books for 2026. If he pitches well, he’ll leave, meaning the Jays have given up a big prospect for just a handful of starts from Bieber.
It’s also understandable why the Jays would roll the dice with Bieber. The Jays are surprisingly atop the American League East, something that almost no one predicted coming into the year. They shook off a cold March/April to be one of the best teams in baseball over the past three months. They have a record of 50-30 since the calendar flipped to May.
Coming into the year, it was expected that the Jays would be aggressive if they were anywhere near contention. The fan base wasn’t happy coming into 2025, on the heels of some disappointing playoff exits and a dismal 2024 season. Team president Mark Shapiro is in the final year of his contract and general manager Ross Atkins is only signed through 2026. Many have wondered if they would be out of their jobs if the Jays missed the playoffs this year. Since they happen to be doing quite well, the team understandably wants to put a proverbial foot on the gas pedal.
They have been seeking upgrades to their pitching staff. However, their rotation is fairly steady, with a number of decent options. They currently have Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer and Eric Lauer taking the ball regularly. Gausman, Berríos and Bassitt have been rocks all year long, with each of them having an ERA between 3.82 and 4.24. Lauer, a minor league signee, has stepped up to give the Jays 74 innings with a 2.68 ERA. That’s not entirely sustainable, as he’s been helped by a .239 batting average on balls in play and 82.2% strand rate, but it’s been a godsend for the Jays nonetheless. Scherzer has missed a lot of time due to injury but has been passable when on the mound, with a 4.98 ERA in seven starts.
It’s a solid group but one lacking a clear dominant ace-type guy that they would want taking the ball to start a playoff series. Guys like that are hard to acquire. There have been plenty of rumors surrounding MacKenzie Gore and Joe Ryan but all indications are that those guys are unlikely to move. Even if some club can acquire them, the asking price is sure to be massive.
Bieber has been that kind of guy in the past. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball over the 2019-2021 seasons, winning a Cy Young award in the shortened 2020 campaign. Over that three-year span, he tossed 388 1/3 innings with a 2.92 ERA, 33% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 44.7% ground ball rate. By FanGraphs’ wins above replacement, he was one of the ten best pitchers in the majors.
Whether he can get back to that level is anyone’s guess. In 2022, he was still very effective, posting a 2.88 ERA in 200 innings. However, his strikeout rate dipped to 25%, still strong but below his prior levels. In 2023, he was limited by elbow injuries to 128 innings with a 3.80 ERA and and 20.1% strikeout rate. In 2024, he made two dominant starts before he required his aforementioned surgery.
A pessimist would say that Bieber has been on the downslope for years. An optimist would say that Bieber’s elbow was probably hampering him long before he went under the knife and that he can get back to his dominant form with a clean bill of health. The Jays probably aren’t sure themselves which view is more correct but they’re putting some chips on the latter.
As of now, a best-case scenario for the Jays would see Bieber dominate through a playoff run, at which point he would opt out and return to free agency. It’s possible that they try to alter that path by signing him to a new deal. They have done a trade-and-extend before. They acquired Berríos from the Twins at the 2021 deadline, when he had a year and a half of club control left. A few months later, they signed him to a lengthy extension. Presumably, they will want to wait to see how things go in the next few weeks or months, but that is a theoretical possibility with Bieber.
Whether that happens or not, they have perhaps crossed a notable line by acquiring Bieber. RosterResource lists the club’s competitive balance tax number above $284MM with Bieber added. That’s just an estimate but going over $281MM would mean Toronto’s top 2026 draft pick would be moved back by ten slots. Cot’s Baseball Contracts gives them a bit more breathing room, having them at $273MM. That yet doesn’t include Bieber.
A player’s CBT hit is recalculated at the time of a trade. Bieber is still owed about $19.33MM over a season and a third. That works out to a CBT hit of about $14.5MM. Prorating that over the final third of the season would add a bit less than $5MM to Toronto’s CBT number. According to Cot’s, acquiring Bieber wouldn’t put them over the line. Clarity on that might not come until later and the Jays might alter the picture with other moves.
For the Guardians, they have hovered around contention for a lot of the year. However, they have struggled a bit in recent months. They’re not totally buried, currently just 2.5 games back of a playoff spot. But they recently lost closer Emmanuel Clase to a gambling investigation. It seems they have decided they’d rather sell than try to make a push this year. Recent reporting has suggested they would look to move Bieber and outfielder Steven Kwan, though the latter ultimately stayed in Cleveland.
By giving up a wild card in Bieber, the Guardians have added an arm with a strong chance to help them in the future. Stephen, 22, was Toronto’s second-round pick last year. This year, he has already climbed from Single-A to High-A and Double-A. Across those three levels, he has logged 91 2/3 innings with a 2.06 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate.
Baseball America ranks Stephen the #5 prospect in the Jays’ system. He has a five-pitch mix which includes a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, changeup and cutter. FanGraphs recently published an updated top 100 list ahead of the deadline with Stephen up at #80 in the league.
It’s a nice swap for the Guards, turning a wild card 30-year-old who was maybe about to become a free agent into a potential future rotation building block. For the Jays, it’s a risky ploy, but they’re clearly shooting for upside. The roster is already fairly well rounded with good contributors throughout the lineup, rotation and bullpen. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that they had interest in closers Jhoan Durán and Mason Miller, though those arms have been traded to the Phillies and Padres, respectively. Instead, closer to the trade deadline the Jays were able to land Louis Varland from the Twins in a surprise deal.
For now, the Jays can keep their five-man rotation intact. In the coming weeks, perhaps someone will have to be bumped out for Bieber, maybe after he makes another rehab start or two. The Jays also have Alek Manoah on a rehab assignment, working back from his own Tommy John surgery. It’s an interesting cluster of talent as the club looks to make a push through October.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Lange, D. Ross Cameron, Bruce Newman, Imagn Images
beauty, eh?
The Jays have come down with a case of Bieber Fever, it would seem.
I got a fever that needed Shane Bieber
The [male chicken] of the walk, baby!
Got to have that Bieber
neo – Did somebody say Fever?
Well Bieber became very succesful in Canada on Youtube years ago, maybe he can do it again.
Gold plated diapers!
That is a [ fecal matter ] thing to say. Your mother is a [ member of the oldest profession ] and your father is a [ male genital ]. Good day to you!
You Gotta Bieleber
Yeah it’s goin be awhile though. Be patient… lol
8 weeks left in the season… There isn’t a “while”
Nice
Give us Jose Ramirez as well.
Just sign over your minor league systems and it’s a deal
Is this just in?
Is Biebs close to playing? Admittedly haven’t kept upwith him much.
He made his final rehab start this week
I believe he still has one to go.
This doesn’t make sense for the Jays, unless they intend to extend him immediately.
Even if he’s fully healthy, it’s gonna take him a while to shake off the rust and ramp up.
Could see him signing a Brandon Woodruff like deal.
He has a player option for next year from what I see.
They did something like that with Berríos, so it’s possible.
If he can get back to decent form before the playoffs, maybe he’s a part of the playoff rotation?
The contract Cleveland gave Bieber is what never made any sense. You guaranteed the guy $18MM and in the best case scenario you were going to get 3 months.
Yes, it’s because they wanted to be able to recoup a young asset in trade. If not this year, then next. But ideally this year. If they weren’t contending and needed his contribution, this was the expected outcome of giving him that deal.
It was a roll of the dice, & they just bought a prospect for that money.
No it was 10 million for 2025. Player option for 2026 16 million . Buyout for 2025 4 million.
No 14 milion for 2025 includes buyout. 16 million for player option in 2026.
Maybe. Matthew Boyd is a good example from last year of a guy who came out after TJS really strong. It would be nice to see Bieber do the same.
Definitely some risk here for the Jays but a lot of upside too.
The only ways this makes sense are, as you say, if they extend him immediately, and/or if they gave up a half-eaten jar of pickles for him.
But it’s Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins. So don’t expect it to make sense, or to do any good.
Risking $14MM is a lot of money for 3 months. He was guaranteed to be out until August for this year and he was always gonna take the buyout if he was healthy at all.
Head scratcher the way it was structured to not get 2 guaranteed years for the club. They ended up paying ~7MM and got a 2nd rounder. That’s fine but this deal didn’t pencil out to me when signed.
Some pitchers need a while to shake off the rust. Some don’t. You never know. Jays fans remember Marcus Stroman hitting the ground running in September/October 2015.
But it’s a win-win situation for the Blue Jays. If Bieber doesn’t show any rust, we’ve got an ace for the stretch run and postseason. But if it takes him more time, then he triggers his player option and we get him all next year to replace Bassitt. I’m happy with either result. The only bad result is if he isn’t any good (or healthy) next year either.
And giving up a second draft pick… well, that’s what, a 25% chance of actually becoming a major league player of any impact at all?
Blue Jays gotta Blue Jay. Ahahahahahahaha!
I’m actually glad the Cubs didn’t get him. He still has a lot of questions to answer and I’m not sure he’d be worth it this year. Not sure how healthy he is.
2nd round pick for him seems steep. Seems like this is a better return than what the M’s got for Suarez.
They paid wayyy too much for what 6 starts of a guy who hasn’t pitched in 2 years ?!? This is terrible for Jays
In Canada they are Bieber believers.
We prefer the term Beliebers
It’s called a bieleber
Thanks for the correction. Not sure where I’d be without you.
Bieber has 21 SO and 1 BB in 11.1 innings in his rehab assignments with 7 hits. Even against rookie to AA ball that’s not bad.
this isn’t the worst thing they could do – doesn’t move the needle much though… kinda hoping they make a deal for Kwan while they’re at it.
If Bieber can be even close to his old self by season’s end, I think he could end up moving the needle quite a bit for the Jays’ playoff ambitions.
no argument there… but that’s a huge ‘if’
I agree with Meow Meow, I think the Jays won the trade deadline with Bieber.
bwmiller79, can’t tell if that’s sarcasm or if you’re being for real
I said a week ago that I thought Bieber would be the biggest difference maker down the stretch.
I like the risk with him avoiding injury and opting out of his contract. Looks like a nice player the bluejays traded but in comparison it is a light return for a potential ace.
Bieber is a better pitcher than Mason Miller and look what Miller returned.
im not denying the potential for it to be huge, just im a skeptic by nature and until he can prove prove hes back to being near 100%… its still a fair sized if. but if it pans out im all for it.
2x cy young award winner doesn’t move the needle ?? Needle must be broken lol
Bieber is a 1x Cy Young winner
And there’s no guarantee he performs like that, which is the issue.
And it was 2020, so a bit inflated too.
Not every pitcher comes back to ace form following TJ atleast not right away.
He could be like woodruff or like sandy, and that’s a big gap in between
Bieber looked good in his first rehab outing but would assume he is still a few weeks out. Hi price to pay with Stephan but prices are high this year.
Sorry it was his 4th rehab and reached AA. Also misspelled Stephen.
The season is over in 8 weeks lmao so they traded their hottest pitching prospect for 4 or 5 starts of a guy who hasn’t pitched in 2 years… Genius move… Why can’t these guys just do normal things , they always have to go off the board
Maybe they hope it is 7 or 8 starts on an extended playoff run.
This is a high price to pay for an asset that may not contribute much. A rising prospect and about $7 million for the rest of this year when you factor in the buyout on his option.
But he holds the Astros to one run over seven innings in game six of the American League championship… no one in Toronto will be complaining.
Have you ever pitched before ? If you miss 2 years you can’t just jump into the MLB in August when everyone is seasoned. Not a chance he gives them anything
BennyG1919
If you miss 2 years you can’t just jump into the MLB in August when everyone is seasoned. Not a chance he gives them anything
========================
It takes 4-5 starts to shake off the rust. I’d bet real money that Bieber has an above-average ERA in September.
Obviously Bieber will exercise his player option. Bieber will be a solid in their rotation next year when Scherzer is gone and the league will have figured out Lauer. This year… idk how he helps
@bucsfan0004
Teams are chucking $20M at pitchers who are even remotely serviceable. If he is even remotely good, he’s going to FA. If he tanks or ends up back on the IL he’ll take the 16M and stay with the Jays.
Apparently you haven’t been paying attention to what Brandon Woodruff has been doing since he came back.
A pitcher who was hot… in Vancouver, A ball, aged 22 almost 23. It’s always nice to pitch well, but they were easing him in starting him at low level competition for his age and college experience. Let’s not pretend he’s knocking on the door of the big leagues. He’s still the same gamble that any second round draft pick is, and most of them don’t pan out.
(Yes he did reach AA recently, but his only start there went very badly so he hasn’t proven anything at that level yet.)
1, Last season Bieber pitched to a 0.7 WAR. In TWO GAMES! And he was probably injured during the second game. So he could have an impact over the rest of the regular season, but that’s not the point.
2. The point is that while there are eight weeks left in the season, the Jays don’t plan to stop playing then. The Phillies and Mets were going to make the post-season without adding any relievers, but they made trades to put them in position to win in the playoffs. That’s what most of these deadline deals are about. If Bieber can get himself ready by season’s end, there’s no pitcher in the Jays’ rotation that I’d rather start game one of a playoff series. That’s why this makes sense for Toronto.
What Bronxlou said. They don’t need him to produce much in the regular season. It’s the playoffs they want him for.
@BennyG1919
Negotiating rule #2
Let the people who think they are smartest people in the room continue to believe they are the smartest people in the room.
Was going to pitch again at akron this sunday was throwing 92 to 94 tuesday game.
And Kwan….dont forget Kwan.
I agree with Fever. A guy that may help them this year that has a player option for 2026. Has to be more involved. Extension? Kwan? Reliever? Maybe he has to accept the player option as part of the deal.
0% chance he is taking a 1 year player option coming off surgery.. he’s gonna want some stability now. He will be a member of the Yankees or Red Sox next year. So the Jay’s gave up their top pitching prospect (right now) for 4 or 5 starts of a guy covered in rust.
Dodgers next year.
They need an 8th starter ?
Red sox offered him more money then guardians did this winter. Reason he resigned with cleveland he liked the medical staff and trainers, plus came thru cleveland system.
Sorry last winter.
Unless he is hurt, he will definitely get paid a lot more money as a FA.
Again, just shows how useless Sharpio is. Other teams are improving. He picks up a costly reno project that doesn’t help them 1 bit right now. and if Ross says “depth,”…I’ll scream. The only good news for Jays fans is that these screw-up and not knowing how to run a baseball team for 10 years will show Rogers, the owners they need to fire these 2 clowns now.
Way to enjoy first place.
Is he useless or sharp?
The ONLY good part of the deal is the wife is included in the trade. That may have been worth the spec alone. His arm? Nah.
What’s his wife have to do with this? Are you acting out vicarious and/or voyeuristic fantasies?
Uuummm. OK?
cashman sucks!
Steven Kwan, too, I hope.
I see some Toronto fans have a problem with this, but I think this is a pretty decent pickup.
Probably more upset at the cost. Khal Stephan was probably our third best pitching prospect. Pretty steep price for a potential boom or bust player in Bieber
Hasnt pitched in 2 years and has 2 months of control left…
Jays ain’t messing around
The guy has had injuries but don’t forget he’s a former Cy Young and Triple Crown winner. Even if he comes back 75% he’s still better than 90% of league pitchers
Cleveland has to be eating some money (I hope for Torontos sake). 3-4M left this year and likely a 4M buyout on his player option next year.
They’re getting a AA pitcher straight up for him. Hard to imagine them eating much. Maybe a little of this year’s salary if anything, but probably not. They would’ve kept him and used him this year if they were going to pay him anyway.
Feels like a weird deal for Toronto. He’ll take most of August (at least) just shaking the rust off at a major league level. So basically trading for a month of him plus the playoffs.
I think they saw what Matthew Boyd did for us last year and are hoping for a similar outcome. I think this is Toronto’s thinking…
A. He returns this year and is healthy and lights out. He’ll be fully stretched out by the playoffs and we go for it. He’ll opt out at the end of the year, but it’ll be worth it because he’s a cy young caliber pitcher when healthy.
B. He’s a shell of his former self this year. He doesn’t help this year, but we’ve still got a good team that’s competing. He’ll opt in next season and now you’ve got him for a full season next year. If he never recovers, you lost the trade. If he’s even serviceable, then he helps or is a trade candidate at this time next year.
I just thought of a third option…
C. He’s put on paid leave amid an MLB gambling investigation. 🙂
Haha. Options A and B are well thought out and makes a lot more sense to me. But option C is what I’m going with haha
Toronto has struggled to get impact FA to sign there. I like this move by them. They are in a position to go for it, and they’re going for it
Will it work? Who knows, but Bieber is a guy you take that risk on. He is a guy who is an actual pitcher and doesn’t just rely on high velocity/spin to get guys out.
Lmao and Yankees fans still think they have a chance at winning the division *laugh emoji laugh emoji laugh emoji*
Makes sense, Justin was also from Ontario!
6 to 10 starts for a guy coming off TJS.. Um, OK?
While giving up a guy who’s been promoted twice this season already 😳
Very strange deal for Toronto given he hasnt pitched since 2024 and is a FA .Big overpay as Khal is a good prospect.
Paging Cashman
Maybe Shane was busking just like Justin.
O’s beat the Jays so bad this past series, the GM lost his damn mind and signing injured dudes gearing up for next year…. Jays fleeced!!
It is official as per Sportsnet
Canada? That’s whole other country
Something about tariffs…
Very tremendous…
If Toronto does get Bieber, does he get a welcome back party for returning to Canada and Bieber fever returns?
Guardians of the North – Bieber, Sandlin, Gimenez, Straw, Clement…
Don’t forget about Shapiro and Atkins.
Yes how could I forget
I think a lot of Cleveland fans will be rooting for Toronto in October..
Shapiro keeps taking CLE’s lemons, how about they return the favour: Davis Schneider! Please, take him.
Schneider is a platoon bat who has a 141 wRC+ against lefties. He’s perfect for his role.
Every trade carries risk for both sides, and this one carries a little more.
But IF Bieber returns to anything close to his regular form, Toronto just picked up the best SP on the trade market, a first game playoff starter.
He could end being the biggest pick up, pitcher or player.
He could also blow out his elbow,or be ineffective, and thats the risk.
The return, Stephen, is REALLY light, if the old Bieber returns.
For the Jays, its a good risk to take.
For Cleveland, Stephen has shown pretty good command, but doesn’t throw extremely hard for a kid that big. He needs work on differentiating the shape of his off speed stuff.
His profile is right up the Guardians alley, when it comes to development.
Solid risk for them, too.
@CATS44
The other component is cost. If Beiber sucks the rest of the year he’ll exercise the 16M player option. If he’s good he’s gone in FA. This is a good move for Cleveland, for the Jays.. maybe?
There is no risk for the Guardians in this case though. He is a FA so you say If he is a cy young after 2 years off in the final 2 months of the season the return seems light. BUT he is not worth that now when he is available to be traded. So Clevland got a huge return….for something that isnt worth that much…essentially a lottery ticket.
Like $5 for a lottery ticket is nothing if you win $30M! you could have charged at least $15M for that ticket.
@Digdugler
Everything you say is true
He’s not a FA… he has a 16M P.O. Which if he’s still hurt the Jays will need to pay. Shapiro screwed up. Allways trying to be clever when all he had to do was get win NOW players. 2-3 solid BP. All he did with the BAL trade was replace Green. No improvement while everyone else has.
Domínguez is a massive improvement over Green???
Green only really imploded in the last 2 months. Before that one of the best relievers in the game the last 2 years = Domínguez is good, not great.
That is just flat out not true. I can name 50 relievers who have been better than him the past two years. Green has been pretty brutal his whole time as a Jay. He outpitched his advanced stats last year and still was pretty mediocre. Massive improvement.
Risky deal but I like it. Hopefully they get an extension worked before the season ends.
Karl Stephen can develop with the Gusrdians and we will just get him back when gets too expensive for them.
I don’t think I like this much at all. I’m not going to cry about trading Stephen, but he has had a big year and trending upward. It feels like he could have been more currency to headline a more impactful deal than a risky rental with that “poison pill” option. If they wanted to save Cleveland from the financial downside of getting no return on that Bieber investment, they could have traded a couple of their 40 man pieces instead of one highly valued guy.
Too steep a price to pay for a rental. Bieber only exercises his option if he’s hurt. And jays can’t issue him a qualifying offer cause he was traded
With the Guardians Gamble Gang you have to wonder if there was any contingency in the deal if Bieber gets nailed. Not saying he is but how many players are involved?
Have to assume Toronto has seen him throw in the minors.
Interesting gamble on their part.
Woof
Great move by guardians signing Bieber then rolling him into Stephen ! That’s how small market teams stay relevant!
Max Scherzer has pitched with so many Cy Young players in his career this is number 10 not counting Bauer.
If Bieber starts game 1 of a couple playoff series and helps them hold down the division, this is a win regardless what Stephen does as a Guardian
If he helps them win a playoff series or get to the WS
This is a Home run trade
W the weak AL. A smart risk for the jays
Exactly. There is a lot of risk here for the Jays but huge upside.. going into the playoffs with a healthy and fresh Shane Bieber could make a world of difference.
By the end of September Jays fans will like this deal.
I like it now despite the uncertainty. I think given the age and injury history in the rotation that they should actually go to a six rotation for a few weeks.
We saw Cleveland gamble with Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb last season and it paid off getting them to the playoffs. It’s not unreasonable to think Bieber can do the same for Toronto
A lot of unknowns but any last minute trade can be… he’s close to starting again and looks to have most of his stuff back. Stephen is a nice prospect but he’s barely got 200 innings of minor ball… how many guys looked awesome in A andAA and fizzled out. He could be anywhere between a stud and a dud. I’m ok with it because I think Beiber will help. Maybe not MVP Beiber but as long as he’s reliable and predictable it’s a win. There’s no guarantees with any of their starters and the rest of the year. I like the team as is and am worried about messing with the chemistry too much… stand pat and cross your fingers.
While I am not sold on the deal, what we do not know is what others are willing to give for the player Toronto traded to Cleveland. This could have been the best they could get for him. And the marketing department must be beside themselves with the possibilities.
Pitching and defense win championships. With the Jays taking 3 of 4 from the Motor City Kitties recently, it looks like they’ll be winning the AL this year.
I will apologize for being wrong on the Jays this year. They just didn’t look built to contend this year and through they should have sold some pieces.
Homeruns win world series the last 5 ws winners were 7th or better in homeruns
What about the past 100 years? How did that work out? 5 years is such a small sample size. Are you even a baseball fan?
Bc we are talking about now not when guys played part time not when guys were drunk not a time when guys could use uppers.
@Whyme
My point is that you can’t seem to make a direct correlation, though. I think there is more to the story, to include good pitching and defense to get them to that championship level. I’d be interested in how many of those teams had #1 HRs in the playoffs as well. Possibly but again, it’s all relevant.
The last team that won with low homeruns was 2015 so yes yrs I can. Homeruns matter in the playoffs
@Whyme
I don’t think I said they don’t matter. Phillies were relying upon the HR in the playoffs and got nothing out of it. My point is that it’s not just about the HRs.
@Old York
Last year the Dodgers were 12th in pitching, 21st in defense, but 2nd in hitting.
Beating the snot out of the ball wins championships.
@NoSaint
According to Fielding Bible, Dodgers had the 3rd best defensive runs saved in 2024. They had the 2nd best wRC+, just below the Yankees, but that offense didn’t help them win against the Dodgers, except for that one bullpen game the Dodgers threw out there to give the Yankees a bone.
archive.fieldingbible.com/TeamDefensiveRunsSaved
@Old York
So the 2 teams with the best wRC+ were playing each other in the WS. Hmmm. Interesting isn’t it.
I love that! “Motor City Kitties”
A rotation with Beiber and Scherzer? Hmm. Makes all the confusing Tigers moves more relatable.
I wanted Bieber for the RS, but Stephens is a promising prospect. But I think this is still the right move for TO. They need to lock up 1st place.
Manoah for Maton & Mathews? Could be an all M player trade!
Idk, hopefully the Jays have another move or two to come as a rehabbing Biebs and Seranthony aren’t gonna push the Jays any further into world series contenders
Sha/tkins need to concentrate on a big bat and a closer. Clocks tickin!
A Cleveland. Strong starting prospect looking mid rotation currently.
Toronto I dunno. I haven’t watched Bieber. I would have liked to found someone else and kept this prospect. They scouted Bieber so maybe he’s going to be great and if so it’s a fair trade. His k rate walks look fantastic in minors.