Blue Jays earn early offseason win with Shane Bieber signing on

Shane Bieber, the right-hander the Jays acquired at the trade deadline, will remain with the club for another year after choosing his $16 million player option. The option was part of the deal he signed with the Cleveland Guardians last season and included a $4 million buyout, which would have been triggered if Bieber had decided to test the open market. Many expected the California product to head to free agency for more money and years, but it appears Bieber wants to return to the Blue Jays for another year.

This is a significant win for the Jays, as a starter of Bieber’s caliber would likely have seen the organization need to spend more than the $16 million he is making this year. Start-ups are earning significantly more these days, and the numbers easily exceed $10 million-plus. For example, last winter Matt Boyd made $14.5 million AAV with the Cubs, Walker Buehler signed with the Boston Red Sox for $21.05 million, Justin Verlander landed with the San Francisco Giants for $15 million, and Charlie Morton signed with the Atlanta Braves for $15 million. Bieber has a significant upside compared to the arms mentioned above, although when he signed he was recovering from Tommy John surgery and wouldn’t be pitching until later in the year, which likely affected his AAV and a reason why the player option was likely included.

When healthy, Bieber was one of the best arms in the game.

Over his career, the right-hander owns a 3.24 ERA and a 3.15 FIP over 883 1/3 innings with a 1.111 WHIP. Before the 2025 trade deadline, Bieber had spent his entire eight-year career with Cleveland, where he earned the 2020 Cy Young Award and two All-Star nominations. The Jays acquired Bieber at the trade deadline in exchange for prospect Khal Stephen, with the Jays needing to bolster the rotation for their run down the stretch and into the postseason once Bieber’s Tommy John rehab was complete.

With Bieber staying in Toronto, the Blue Jays’ rotation picture becomes a lot clearer. Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer are free agents, leaving significant holes in the Jays’ rotation. Toronto’s rotation image now looks like this:

1. Kevin Gausman
2. Shane Bieber
3. Trey Yesavage
4. Jose Berrios
5. Internal/external option

The emergence of Trey Yesavage also helps strengthen the rotation, as he becomes an internal option that the club can lean on heading into the new year. The Blue Jays then have one open spot to consider, which they can find within the organization or outside, via free agency or trade.

From an internal perspective, the Jays would have a few weapons competing for the spot in Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Adam Macko and Ricky Tiedemann. Lauer likely has the inside track for the spot after the impressive 2025 season he put forward, with Francis next in line before candidates like Macko or Tiedemann enter the picture. Jake Bloss won’t be ready to start the year, but he could factor in later in the season.

There are numerous weapons on the open market for the Jays to turn to. Whether Bassitt or Scherzer returns to Toronto outside of these weapons, players like Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, Shota Imanaga, Framber Valdez, Michael King and Zac Gallen are all potential candidates at the high end of the equation, which is where the Jays should look for their recent World Series run.

Overall, the baseball world was quite shocked that Bieber decided to stay in Toronto and not test the open market. It’s a good thing for the organization that he decided to stay, and next winter the Jays will have to take another look at their rotation as he, Gausman and possibly Berrios (player option) are all eligible free agents.