A report tonight Mitch Bannon of Athletics offers a little more perspective on Bieber’s decision. Towards the end of the 2025 campaign, Bannon reports that Bieber was dealing with forearm fatigue. Bieber has since begun rehab work, and Bannon notes that Ross Atkins told reporters that the right-hander “in a strong position.” While the Jays are currently going through Bieber’s recovery process on a week-by-week basis, Atkins noted that Bieber remains ready to pitch on opening day. “a very realistic outcome” although he didn’t definitively say Bieber would be part of the Opening Day roster.
That Bieber was dealing with a forearm issue just 13 appearances after returning from Tommy John surgery certainly seems to help explain his decision to exercise his 2026 player option. While there is little doubt that Bieber could have beaten the $12 million he left on the table by declining the option in terms of blanket guarantee, it is likely that teams would have been reluctant to assign a substantial average annual value to a pitcher who was already rehabbing from a new ailment after elbow surgery. By staying with Toronto this winter, Bieber gives himself a chance to rehab with the Blue Jays, rather than continuing his rehabilitation as a free agent, and can now look toward free agency next winter with what he certainly hopes will be a full season of starts under his belt in 2026 to alleviate any concerns about his arm health going forward.
With Bieber’s status somewhat uncertain ahead of Opening Day, it’s all the more understandable that the Blue Jays have been aggressive in expanding their rotation. Dylan stops, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Cody PonceAnd Jose Berrios figure to make up the club’s Opening Day rotation if Bieber were to start the year on the injured list, although the depth provided by players like Yariel Rodriguez, Bowden FrancisAnd Eric Lauer is strong enough that the Blue Jays appear to be considering the possibility of trading Berrios this winter. Cease, Gausman and Bieber are all certainly locked into rotation spots if healthy, and Yesavage showed more than enough down the stretch and in the playoffs to earn the first shot at a rotation job heading into 2026.
That would leave just one spot for Ponce, Berrios and the team’s depth options to compete for in Spring Training, and so it would hardly be a shock to see the Jays make a move that ships a rotation piece this winter. At the same time, however, Bannon reports that the Jays remain interested in adding starting pitching, even after both Cease and Ponce entered free agency earlier this winter. While the team is brimming with rotation options, not all of them are equally reliable. In addition to questions about Bieber’s health, Ponce’s return from this year’s KBO competition will come with inherent question marks.
Meanwhile, Berrios struggled in the second half and was relegated to the bullpen for October, while Yesavage is a young arm who pitched a career high in terms of innings pitched between the majors, minors and postseason this past year. It seems unlikely that the team will want to add another high-end arm to the rotation given their needs in the bullpen and lineup, but perhaps additional depth to join players like Francis and Lauer as depth pieces could be valuable, especially in the event that Berrios is traded or Bieber opens the season on the injured list.
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