The Padres need starting pitching. San Diego offers a possible area of comfort for former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber.

For the entire 2025 season, the Padres will be without one of their top starting pitchers, Joe Musgrove. After injuring himself during the NL Wild Card Series, he required Tommy John surgery. As of now, the Padres rotation consists of Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish, and Michael King as the top three options. After that trio, a combination of Randy Vasquez, Matt Waldron, and Jhony Brito would compete for the final two spots.

Needless to say, the Padres need more depth if they have visions of winning the World Series in 2025. They don’t necessarily need another ace but just a veteran who can provide quality innings in the middle of the rotation.

Shane Bieber was an ace at one point for the Cleveland Guardians. The right-handed pitcher won the pitching Triple Crown in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, winning the AL Cy Young. That stellar season wasn’t a total anomaly, as he posted a 2.97 ERA over 47 starts in 2021 and 2022 combined. He was an All-Star in 2021 and earned back-end Cy Young votes in 2022.

Unfortunately, the injury bug has bit Bieber hard in the two seasons since. He pitched just 12 innings all of last season in Cleveland. He last pitched on April 6 and then underwent Tommy John surgery. There is no word whether or not he will be ready for the regular season. However, given that he’s a free agent, San Diego being his next destination makes a lot of sense.

First, Bieber is a Southern California native from Laguna Hills. He pitched in college at UC Santa Barbara. Next, his pitching coach in 2020, when he won the Cy Young, was current Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla. The two seemed to have a strong relationship when Niebla coached in Cleveland for two seasons.

Bieber is available to any team; granted, there are concerns about his readiness for 2025. The Padres could offer more in the way of comfort for Bieber, with Niebla in the dugout. The Padres need another starting pitcher to add depth. Bieber likely would not command much in the way of salary, given his cloudy health record.

The top starting pitchers on the market now command north of $20 million per season. The Padres should steer clear of that when signing the 29-year-old. Something closer to $10 million would be ideal for the former Cy Young winner, now with injury concerns. When cleared, Bieber would slide nicely into the San Diego rotation behind Cease, King, and Darvish.

Jolly Olive of Jomboy Media also suggested the Padres as a fit for Bieber.

I Made a Free Agent Prediction for Every MLB Team

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— jack (@Jolly_Olive) November 16, 2024

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.