CLEVELAND, Ohio – In the off-season, when the Indians exchanged Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco and let Carlos Santana and Brad Hand walk out the door of the free agent, Cy Young winner Shane Bieber says he is interested in talking to them about a contract extension.
Truth be told, he seemed totally excited about the prospect. That’s enough to melt the snow in your garage, even if nothing comes out of it.
“It is absolutely something I would be open to,” said Bieber on Monday during a Zoom call with reporters.
Nobody called a press conference. Nothing leaked on Twitter, but it’s something to think about instead of focusing on the fact that the Indians are likely to open the season with a $ 50 million payroll.
“In terms of conversations, nothing really happened,” said Bieber. “Like I said, everyone is kind of on the same page, you know one step at a time. We have a very new group coming this year, and there is a lot of turnover compared to last year, so it’s a different look and everyone wants to kick-start, enter the same page.
“In terms of conversations, it hasn’t really happened yet, so it’s something I would love to dive into and I hope it will be matched as well.”
Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, said the Indians do not comment on these things. But cite a reason why they wouldn’t want to extend Bieber’s contract? Are they tired of seeing their pitchers win Cy Young awards? Suddenly, aren’t they interested in a pitcher who led the big leagues in eliminations?
As much as they suffered for negotiating with Lindor, they offered him a multi-year deal of more than $ 200 million in spring training last year. It wasn’t enough for Lindor, but it’s not like they haven’t signed extensions with other players.
At the end of this season, Bieber will be eligible for arbitration with more than three years in the major leagues. Perhaps this is the time for a fair extension to be discussed. The Indians have a history of pursuing this type of business in spring training.
Bieber, meanwhile, gained entry to the Indian bubble in Goodyear after testing positive for the coronavirus on February 8. He missed a day or two of training, but his symptoms were mild. He gave a bullpen session in his Phoenix home yard to get ready.
“I don’t know how I did it,” said Bieber. “Fortunately, I ended up not spreading it to anyone.”
Bieber was asked if his life has changed since he beat Cy Young last year by a unanimous vote by BBWAA. He smiled and said, “I got my own title when I tested positive for COVID, it was different.”
In the 60-game sprint, Bieber was as close to perfect as the pitcher can be. He went 8-1 with an ERA of 1.63. He hit 122 hitters in 74 1/3 innings. He won the Triple Crown from the pitcher, leading the major leagues in victories, ERA and eliminations.
So, what is the motivation for 2021? Bieber has a lot.
He got off to a bad start last year. He came in game 1 of the wild-card playoffs against the Yankees. He allowed seven runs won in nine hits on 4 2/3 entries. In a confrontation with Gerrit Cole, the Indians and Bieber lost 12-3. It is a loss that equates to disappointment and motivation for Bieber.
“That was my driving force in this off-season,” said Bieber.
That’s why he spent most of the off-season in Phoenix so he could train at the Indians complex. He spent time studying what happened in that game.
“I feel like my slider could have appeared in a much bigger way because last year I was predominantly fastball, curveball,” said Bieber. “I think the team (of the Yankees) did a very good job of looking for that spin, that north-south spin and they were swinging, swinging, swinging and then they held.
“They did a very good job of getting away from the curved balls below the zone and I really wasn’t able to fight it with something that was a strike, which would be my slider or my cutter. So it was a missed opportunity. … But a bitter taste in the mouth at the end of the year can fuel (you) for an entire off-season and that’s what you did.
Bieber spent the off-season working on his slider and moving. That’s what he played when he made his big league debut in 2018. He called the slider “bread and butter”.
“I love my curved ball and I don’t want to run away from it, but having another shot that is doing something else and giving hitters a different look will be great for me,” said Bieber. “This, along with some mechanical changes – not necessarily changes, but just cleaning things up, I feel like it’s pushing me in the right direction.”
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