The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired starting pitcher Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday in exchange for RHP Khal Stephen.
Bieber has yet to pitch in the Major Leagues this season as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery which he underwent in 2024. The 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner has made 5 rehab starts to date, with his most recent outing coming at Double-A Akron on Tuesday.
That night he punched out 7 hitters across 4 innings, allowing 1 run to score on 3 hits. Bieber sports a lifetime record of 62-32 with a 3.22 ERA, and 958 K’s across 843IP. He’s currently under contract for $14M this season, with a $16M player option for 2026, which will likely be declined, making him a free agent at season’s end.
Heading back the other way is 22 year old right hander Khal Stephen who was selected in the 2nd round of the 2024 1st year player draft. He dominated Single-A and High-A hitters to the tune of a1.75 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 97:17 K:BB across 87.2 innings, before earning a promotion to Double-A New Hampshire on July 20th.
Stephen has a full starter’s repertoire, highlighted by a fastball with good carry that touches 96 miles per hour. He boasts a 9-1 record across all levels on the year, but has been battling a shoulder impingement recently.
With Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase on the non-disciplinary paid leave list as a result of investigations into irregular betting patterns, Cleveland has opted to be sellers at this year’s deadline, despite sitting just 2.5 games back of the final AL Wildcard spot entering Thursday’s slate of games.
In addition to Bieber, the Guardians also dealt reliever Paul Sewald to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a player to be named later.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.