By: Jeremy Lawless

On Sunday, the Indians announced that they were adding Shane Bieber to the 60-Day IL to make room on the 40-man Roster for Cam Hill, who has missed all of his 2021 season due to injuries sustained in an off-season car accident. The 60-days is retroactive to June 14th, the day Bieber was added to the 10-day IL, and will be eligible to return sometime around August 15th.

But should he?

The Indians have been rocked with Injuries this year to key pieces. Jose Ramirez, Franmil Reyes, Josh Naylor, Eddie Rosario, Zack Plesac, Aaron Civale and Shane Bieber have all spent time on the IL. These injuries, coupled with the payroll slash from $119 Million to around $52 Million dollars, have the Indians one game above .500 (49-48), 9 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and 5 games out of the second Wildcard spot.

So should the Indians be buyers or sellers at the deadline?

The Indians are bursting at the seams in the Minors with young talent, especially in the middle infielder category. Prospects that include but are not limited to Tyler Freeman, Nolan Jones, Richie Palacios, Andres Gimenez and Gabriel Arias to name a few. 

The added wrinkle to having so many prospects at the same position is the fact that the Indians face a roster crunch as it pertains to the Rule 5 Draft. Aside from those players that are already Rule-5 draft eligible, the Indians have a large number of players becoming eligible for the first time this year.

If the Indians don’t trade them before the deadline they may not be able to protect them from the Rule-5 draft by adding them to the 40-man roster. Nothing like the potential of your Farm system being stripped down and getting nothing in return for them.

Back to Bieber

Bieber being added to the 60-Day IL did indeed open a roster spot for Cam Hill. BUT, there is no way his status is updated without being behind where either he, or the club (or both) would like him to be. The reigning 2020 Cy Young winner hasn’t pitched since June 13th against Seattle. 

Even more important than buying or selling at the trade deadline is if the Indians should shut Shane Bieber down for the remainder of the 2021 season. Bieber, who will enter his first year of arbitration in 2022 is set to see a significant raise from his $679,700 2021 salary. 

We all know how the Indians feel about raises, am I right? 

With the team playing mediocre-sub-par baseball, does it benefit the Indians more to save the arm of their prized Ace? I think so. With no structural damage these types of injuries do one of two things. Linger and ultimately affect careers, or go away quickly. It appears Shane’s injury should shut him down for the remainder of the season. 

Unless of course the Indians can find a way to climb back up the standings and make a post-season push.