The Toronto Blue Jays made a big move to acquire Cy Young-winning pitcher Shane Bieber at the trade deadline, and it could cost them a starter in the offseason.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/bluejays as Could Shane Bieber Be the Blue Jays’ Hidden Wild Card for the Stretch Run?. The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off clobbering the Colorado Rockies to start their West Coast trip and are riding high before a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, the best trade of the trade deadline according to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden was the Blue Jays trading for Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians. Bieber, 30, hasn’t pitched in MLB this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery early in the 2024 season.

NEW YORK — The Guardians found themselves in a difficult situation before they traded Shane Bieber to Toronto on Thursday, hours before the 6 p.m. MLB trade deadline. They had spent the better part of two years helping the former Cy Young Award winner rehab from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in April 2024.

The Toronto Blue Jays made a big move when they acquired Shane Bieber, but the move could come back to haunt them later on.

Bieber completed a fifth rehab outing on Sunday, three days after his trade to Toronto. “I'm close now,” he said ahead of the outing.

However, they did swing one noteworthy deal, shipping off Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitching prospect Khal Stephen. A few days after the deal, former MLB executive Jim Bowden of The Athletic deemed this the best trade at the deadline, but not for the Guardians.

Shane Bieber’s rehab schedule revealed by John Schneider as the Toronto Blue Jays look to make a playoff push after 2025 MLB trade deadline.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 off-season, it will be an interesting one for the Toronto Blue Jays. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played in 2025, but the Blue Jays starting pitching is already one area of need.