7 trade targets from the Cleveland Guardians for the Colorado Rockies

Cleveland Guardians starter Shane Bieber would be the ace for the Colorado Rockies

In 2020, Shane Bieber won the Cy Young Award and came in fourth in AL MVP voting after going 8-1 (eight wins led the AL) with a league-leading 1.63 ERA in 12 starts for Cleveland. He averaged more than six innings per start with a league-leading 273 ERA+, a league-leading FIP (2.07), a league-leading hit rate (5.4 H/9), 2.4 walks per nine innings, and a league-leading strikeout rate (14.2 K/9). He was the first AL pitcher to get the pitching triple crown (leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA)

In 2021, he was injured as he only made 16 starts but he was still an All-Star despite not pitching in the majors from June 14 through September 23 due to a rotator cuff strain. He was still very good, though (139 ERA+).

For the Rockies, finding pitching that succeeds at elevation is often difficult but Bieber is more likely to succeed due to his high strikeout rate and his high groundball rate. Since 2019 among starters with at least 300 innings pitched, his 44.8 percent groundball rate is the 24th-highest. For comparison, Jon Gray, Antonio Senzatela, and Germán Márquez were all in the top 17 and all pitch/pitched better at Coors Field than on the road.

Bieber is just arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason but since he’ll get roughly $5 million in arbitration, Cleveland will likely try to find a new home for him sometime either this offseason or next, depending on if the time until free agency is shortened from six years to five in the new CBA.