MLB Trade Rumors: Another Cy Young Winner Is Huge New Name on Trade Block

The ramifications of major league baseball's gambling investigation on the trade deadline this week are far-reaching. With the removal of Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase from the mix (removed from active roster for at least a month), the price has gone up for other high-end relievers on the market.

Plus, the Guardians' complete turn to become sellers is now in effect. And that means, according to sources like insider Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic, that former Cy Young winner Justin Bieber is now on the trade block.

The 30-year-old missed nearly all of last season, but is getting closer to a return.

Bieber, recovering from Tommy John surgery in April 2024, is expected to be heavily scouted Tuesday night in a rehab start at Double A. The Guardians re-signed the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner in December to a deal that pays him $10 million this season and gives him a $16 million player option for 2026 — an option Bieber, 30, might very well decline if he comes back strong.

There is heavy interest in Bieber, as noted by Rosenthal's colleague at The Athletic, Zach Meisel, even though he hasn't pitched in a year and a half. Meisel notes that the starting pitching market "is lacking in sizzle," so the interest in Bieber is legit.

It's a long shot, but the potential of a Bieber trade is real and could come to fruition by the trade deadline, especially if his start in the minors goes well.

In three starts and 7.1 innings thus far in his rehab in the minors, Bieber has certainly looked sharp, with a 1.23 ERA, and an eye-popping 14:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Granted, those starts have been in Rookie Ball and High-A, so those scouts will be laser-focused on his Double-A start Tuesday night, where the competition is a big step up.

Bieber has a career 3.22 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP in 134 starts, while striking out 10.2 batters per nine, vs. just 2 BB/9.