Cardinals Linked To Guardians' Shane Bieber Among Eight Trade Deadline Suiters

St. Louis would be the perfect landing spot for a former Cy Young winner

Scott Neville | Jun 8, 2023

Cardinals Linked To Guardians' Shane Bieber Among Eight Trade Deadline Suiters /

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The St. Louis Cardinals have had an all-around disappointing season but the rotation has definitely been the weakest link, leading them to a National League-worst 26-37 record to open the season.

The Cardinals' rotation currently is sporting a 4.66 ERA (ranking No. 20 in Major League Baseball) and does not have any notable reinforcements on the horizon.

If St. Louis wants to climb back into the NL Central race -- which still is possible given how weak the division is -- they'll need to make some notable moves. One potential fit is Guardians ace Shane Bieber, a 28-year-old with a Cy Young award under his belt and one more season of team control.

"A quick survey of beat writers at The Athletic revealed the Los Angeles Angels (his hometown team), Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers could all express varying degrees of interest," The Athletic's Zack Meisel wrote Wednesday. "Some of those teams have needs in their rotation. Some of those teams have a surplus of young outfielders. Some have both."

The Cardinals appear to be a perfect fit for Bieber. They have a surplus of outfielders -- the Guardians' top need -- a strong overall farm system to complete a package and a desperate need for a frontline starter.

Bieber has posted a 3.57 ERA with a 16.3% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate, .261 batting average against and 1.28 WHIP in 80 2/3 innings across a league-leading 13 starts and 338 batters faced this season.

While Bieber would undoubtedly be the top arm on the Cardinals' staff, this season is being marked as a down year for the right-hander. If this is his floor, St. Louis should be begging Cleveland for his services as the trade deadline approaches.

St. Louis will almost certainly be in the mix for Bieber, as he fills a need for both this season and next year -- when they attempt to retool.

More MLB: These Five Cubs Players Could Be Cardinals Trade Targets If Firesale Occurs

Published Jun 8, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu