Red Sox Should Prepare Offer For Guardians Hurler Set To Demand $50 Million

Cleveland might not retain its ace entering the free agent market

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The Cleveland Guardians found out this season that they can win without their most talented starting pitcher, and the Boston Red Sox could benefit from that realization.

Boston is in dire need of a front-end starter, and a handful of them are hitting the free agent market this winter.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will have his ears peeled for all of the goings on surrounding Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and the market’s biggest names, but another pitcher Breslow should pay close attention to is former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber of the Guardians.

Bieber is recovering from Tommy John (expected back late next season), but he’s still only 29. Multiple sources have described Bieber as a perfect fit for Boston, including NESN’s Tim Crowley and The Athletic’s Jim Bowden.

Bowden believes Bieber will look to land a two-year deal from suitors, with Spotrac estimating that his yearly value is somewhere in the range of $24 million or $25 million per year. This means that Breslow could offer Bieber a two-year, $50 million deal with the expectation of having the 2020 MLB strikeout leader for the next two playoff runs, not to mention the entire 2026 season.

It’s a scenario worth exploring for Breslow. 

Perhaps the Guardians will make a similar offer to Bieber, but it feels ike Cleveland will probably move on and build around the staff that just got them within a few wins of the World Series.

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