Any Shane Bieber trade would require a Kevin Durant like return for the Cleveland Guardians

If the Cleveland Guardians do trade Shane Bieber, they’d need a haul in return.

There are all sorts of rumors about what the Cleveland Guardians are going to be doing with Shane Bieber in about nine days’ time. The deadline is August 2nd this year, and the Guardians are within a few games of the AL Central title. They’re over .500 and are poised to be a very viable team in the very near future. If not the second half of the 2022 season then in 2023 for sure.

Despite this fact, the Guardians may be open to trading Bieber. Unlike Jose Ramirez, Bieber isn’t interested in extending his contract with Cleveland it seems. He’s under team control for two more years following the 2022 season, and wouldn’t be a free agent until he’s 30.

That said, baseball’s free agent market overpays players to an ungodly degree and Bieber may see a huge sum of money come his way, even more than he may truly deserve. While he’s arguably been the best pitcher in 2020, his last two years have not matched that level of production. This makes overpaying for him a risk. Yes, he’s a former Cy Young pitcher and AL Triple Crown winner, but he’s also having his most inconsistent season ever.

Is he worth the huge contract he’d get from a team like the New York Mets? No. Just look historically at high-priced free agents; they never pan out. High-priced baseball players just aren’t worth it. Look at Francisco Lindor, who’s hitting 30 points below his career average, and has been declining every year since 2019.

He’s making $32 million a year for the next decade but he’s being outhit by Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario. Lindor will never live up to the contract, and asking the Guardians to throw that kind of deal at Bieber doesn’t make sense.

Especially with his injuries in 2021 and his uneven play in 2022. So, while I don’t think the team should trade him anytime soon, I’m not against it in theory but it needs to be for a Kevin Durant-like haul.

The Cleveland Guardians need a Kevin Durant-like haul for Shane Bieber

I think trading him after 2023 makes sense if he doesn’t want to agree to a win-win contract with the club. The team continues to prove time and time again that they get better with these trades. The Corey Kluber trade, the CC Sabathia trade, the Cliff Lee trade, the Lindor trade, and the Mike Clevinger trade; the Guardians have always come out on top with these deals. They’re a smart club and if they think trading Bieber is the best move, I trust them.

I root for the name on the front of the chest, not the back of it. So if they want to move on from Bieber, cool. Just make sure you get a butt load back for him.

The Mike Clevinger trade may go down as the best in franchise history, as it netted the Guardians Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Owen Miller, Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo and I guess, Austin Hedges. That’s the baseline for what Bieber needs to fetch. Three prospects who are Major League-ready, two Top 10 prospects from the team’s farm system, and a major league player, even if it’s someone as “good” as Hedges.

In other words, a package the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets will get for Kevin Durant. To be clear, however, for Beiber, there needs to be a fourth Major League-ready prospect, a third developmental prospect, and an additional vet in the deal as well.

That’s the haul. Two ready pros and six prospects, four of whom are within months of a callup. Maybe throw in a few drafts picks too, just to really stick it to the team that gets him. If the Guardians can pull off that type of trade, then I’m all for trading Bieber.