3 reasons why the Chicago White Sox should trade Dylan Cease during the season
Three reasons why the White Sox should trade Dylan Cease later in the season.
The biggest story for the Chicago White Sox heading into the 2023-2024 offseason was supposed to be the likelihood that starting pitcher Dylan Cease would be traded by the time the season started. However, the longer we go on, the more we start to realize that Cease may not be traded before the season starts. Things are moving slowly, or there are problems reaching an agreement. Perhaps there isn’t as much interest in Cease as we originally thought.
Perhaps the White Sox are asking for too much?
As it stands right now, it would look like the White Sox are going to begin the season with Cease still part of their roster. That’s not necessarily a bad thing and we will explore why that is and why the White Sox should wait to trade Cease until the season has started and before the mid-season trade deadline. Why would this make sense and possibly give the White Sox their best outcome?
Let’s find out.
Higher return on investment
This is kind of tricky. I believe that if Cease has an excellent start to the season, the White Sox are going to get a lot more in return for him than they are trying to get right now. Of course, it all hinges on a great start. Should Cease start the season on a high note, teams that are desperate for pitching, or are just a pitcher away from contending for the playoffs, will come calling. And they will quite possibly want to give up a lot to get a guy like Cease.
Of course, this all depends on whether Cease can come up and play better than he did last year. He needs to return to his 2022 form and be the Cy Young runner-up that he was that year. That will attract a lot of attention and people will be willing to pay a lot to get him.
The White Sox could use a nice return on a trade for Cease. Multiple players, multiple good players would be needed in return for Cease if a team is willing to give up the pieces. The Sox also need to be careful of demanding too much and scaring teams away which may have happened during this offseason.
A chance to win more games during the season
If Cease can return to the form that he displayed in 2022, the White Sox could end up winning more games before they trade him which would be a huge advantage to them. They need to keep him and let him win them more games than they would without him. Even though they aren’t predicted to be that good, any wins they get will put them at an advantage. And who’s to say that if the White Sox like what they see out of Cease in 2024, they won’t sign him to a long-term deal themselves?
Something just feels right about Cease staying with the White Sox. It doesn’t seem like they should be searching for a new home for him but instead, should be finding a way to keep him. But the allure of being able to bring more prospects to the team by trading him can be strong and I would say that it’s likely very strong with White Sox management. He’s a hot commodity that could get even hotter with a great start to the 2024 season and that could help the White Sox in many ways.
He'd be much more attractive to teams
We have kind of touched base on this already but if Cease were to stick with the White Sox and have a booming start to the 2024 campaign, this would make him much more attractive to teams looking for pitching help. Those teams that are close to making a run at the postseason, but need a little bit of pitching assistance to get them over the hump could be interested in grabbing Cease at some point.
Some teams may be taking a “wait and see” approach when it comes to trading for Cease. They may want to be sure that the 2023 was a fluke and that he’s returned to his 2022 form. A great start to the season would benefit Cease and the White Sox in so many ways. And what team doesn’t want a winner? And even if Cease isn’t winning a lot of games, his appeal might help with teams that need one more piece of the “pitching puzzle” to get them over the top and to the next level.
In the end, it just might be better for the White Sox to take down the for sale sign on Cease right now and put it back up closer to the 2024 trade deadline.