Let’s talk: Shane Bieber interested in contract extension with the Cleveland Indians – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — In an offseason when the Indians have traded Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco and let Carlos Santana and Brad Hand walk out the free agent door, Cy Young winner Shane Bieber says he’s interested in talking to them about a contract extension.

Truth be told, he sounded downright excited about the prospect. That’s enough to melt the snow in your driveway even if nothing comes of it.

“It’s absolutely something I’d be open to,” said Bieber on Monday during a Zoom call with reporters.

No one has called a press conference. Nothing has been leaked on Twitter, but it’s something to think about instead of fixating on the the fact that the Indians will probably open the season with a $50 million payroll.

“In terms of conversations, nothing has really come about,” said Bieber. “Like I said, everybody is kind of on the same page, you know one step at a time. We have a very new group coming in this year, and there’s a lot of turnover from last year, so it’s a different look and everybody just kind of wants to get the ball rolling, get on the same page.

“In terms of conversations, it really hasn’t happened yet, so that’s something I’d love to dive into and hopefully that will be reciprocated as well.”

Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, said the Indians don’t comment on such things. But name a reason why they wouldn’t want to extend Bieber’s contract? What, they’re tired of watching their pitchers win Cy Young awards? Suddenly they’re not interested in a pitcher who led the big leagues in strikeouts?

As much grief as they’ve taken for trading Lindor, they did offer him a multiyear deal over $200 million in spring training last year. It wasn’t enough for Lindor, but it’s not like they haven’t signed other players to extensions.

At the end of this season Bieber will be eligible for arbitration with three-plus years in the big leagues. Perhaps this is the time for an equitable extension to be discussed. The Indians has a history of pursuing these kind of deals in spring training.

Bieber, meanwhile, has gained entry to the Indians’ bubble in Goodyear after testing positive for the coronavirus on Feb. 8. He missed a day or two of workouts, but his symptoms were mild. He threw a bullpen session in the backyard of his Phoenix home to stay ready.

“I don’t know how I got it,” said Bieber. “Fortunately, I didn’t end up spreading it to anyone else.”

Bieber was asked if his life had changed since winning the Cy Young last year by a unanimous vote of the BBWAA. He smiled and said, “I got my own headline when I tested positive for COVID, that was different.”

In the 60-game sprint, Bieber was as close to perfect as pitcher can be. He went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA. He struck out 122 batters in 74 1/3 innings. He won the pitcher’s Triple Crown, leading the big leagues in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

So what’s the motivation for 2021? Bieber has plenty.

He had one bad start last year. It came in Game 1 of the wild-card playoffs against the Yankees. He allowed seven earned runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. In a showdown with Gerrit Cole, the Indians and Bieber lost, 12-3. It is a loss that is equal parts disappointment and motivation for Bieber.

“That was my driving force this offseason,” said Bieber.

It’s why he spent most of the offseason in Phoenix so he could train at the Indians complex. He has spent time studying what happened in that game.

“I feel like my slider could have shown up in a lot bigger way because last year I was predominantly fastball, curveball,” said Bieber. “I think that (Yankees) lineup did a real good job of looking for that spin, that north-south spin and they were swing, swing, swing and then held off.

“They did a really good job of staying off curveballs beneath the zone and I wasn’t really able to combat that with something that was a strike, which would be my slider or my cutter. So it was kind of a missed opportunity. … But a sour taste in the mouth at the end of the year can fuel (you) for an entire offseason and that’s what it did.”

Bieber spent the offseason working on his slider and changeup. That’s what he threw when he made his big-league debut in 2018. He called the slider his “bread and butter.”

“I love my curveball and I don’t want to steer away from it, but having another breaking pitch that’s doing something else and giving hitters a different look will be big for me,” said Bieber. “That, along with a couple of mechanical — not necessarily changes, but just cleaning up things, I feel like is pushing me in the right direction.”