3 Reasons It Was Smart The Chicago White Sox Traded Dylan Cease

After an entire offseason of constant trade rumors, the Chicago White Sox finally traded Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres for three prospects and a relief pitcher.

The trade needed to be done despite the starting rotation now trending towards somewhere between mediocre at best and darn awful at worst. Who is ready for Erick Fedde to be the Opening Day starter?

Sarcasm aside, the Sox needed to move Cease for three reasons...

The team traded Cease when his value was its highest.

The White Sox got the process right. That rarely if ever happens on 35th and Shields.

The Sox made no indications they were going to extend Cease. Knowing ownership, they were never going to pay Cease the nine-figure long-term deal Dylan would eventually want. Plus, this team is now darn awful the contention window abruptly slammed shut last season.

The team is in a rebuild (we will get to that shortly). Cease was the biggest asset outside of the Luis Robert Jr. the Southsiders had to get a good return of prospects to help Rebuild 2.0 along.

Any team that acquired Cease would have him for two seasons since he is still arbitration-eligible next offseason. That means he is cheaper than free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. He is also 28 and durable. That made him even more attractive.

You can point out that he had a disappointing 2023 season after nearly winning the AL Cy Young in 2022. He also finished with a 3.7 fWAR and 3.72 FIP. Plus, he still possesses the game's best slider when it is right. If he can command that pitch better and get better defensive help, he should return to dominant form.

He was having a good spring training. That was enough of a showcase to intrigue contenders to meet the team's demands.

His value was never going to be any higher than it is right now. Sure, the team could have held onto him, let him make his Opening Day start, and show he truly returned to Cy Cease form during the first half of the season. They then could move him at the trade deadline.

The risk there is he either gets hurt or he continues down this spiral and then the Sox are stuck with a depreciating asset.

The Sox gained more talented prospects for Rebuild 2.0.

Despite what ownership thinks, general manager Chris Getz is not going to turn things around quickly. This is a rebuild folks after the last one failed thanks to owner Jerry Reinsdorf, former manager Tony La Russa, current manager Pedro Grifol, and former general manager Rick Hahn along with former EVP Kenny Williams.

Now Getz must try to replenish the White Sox farm system that is currently ranked 20th in baseball. Hahn and Williams helped him get a head start with last year's trade deadline deals they made before they were fired. It was still not going to be enough to restock the farm to give this franchise a shot another title window.

The Sox added a top 100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America in Drew Thorpe. He has one of the best changeups in the minor leagues.

Samuel Zavala is 19 and could finally be the prospect that solves the eternal problem in right field (or eventually replaces Robert Jr. if the Sox trade him eventually).

Jairo Iriarte is a pitcher who throws heat and can be a future rotational piece.

All three immediately went into the Sox' top 10 prospects once they were acquired according to MLB Pipeline. Thorpe is now the Sox' second-best pitching prospect and third overall. Zavala is No. 6 and Iriarte is No. 9.

Colson Montgomery, Noah Schultz, and Jacob Gonzalez are the only three players in the top 10 the Sox drafted. Bryan Ramos was an international free agent signing. That is now six players the Sox acquired via trades to bolster the farm system. That is what a rebuilding team has to do during a teardown--leverage existing assets for additional future assets.