Two Teams Reportedly Competing With The New York Yankees In The Dylan Cease Trade Market
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports the Texas Rangers and the San Diego Padres are interested.
Add the Texas Rangers and the San Diego Padres as two teams reportedly interested in trading for Chicago White Sox Opening Day starter Dylan Cease.
The New York Yankees were reported to have made a new trade offer for Cease after their ace, Gerrit Cole, was shut down for at least two months with an elbow injury.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports that the defending World Series champs are interested in Cease as the Rangers' starting rotation to start the season is not something the team is excited about.
What I’m hearing about the trade talks for White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease. Story: https://t.co/jiIglQq07t
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 13, 2024
Rosenthal pointed out in his story Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, and Tyler Mahle will not be on the mound until around the All-Star break. The team has not made any progress in re-signing Jordan Montgomery. That leaves the Rangers with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford.
Rosenthal also cited the Dallas Morning News report (paid subscription required for link) that White Sox scouts have “descended in droves” upon Rangers camp this week.
NBC Sports Chicago Ryan McGuffey also reported that an unnamed team has made an offer that includes a top 100 prospect, and it is not from the Yankees. Could it be the Rangers?
Have heard an offer has been made for Dylan Cease that includes a Top 100 prospect and more - and NOT from the #Yankees.
— Ryan McGuffey (@RyanMcGuffey) March 12, 2024
Cease is slated to start tonight in Goodyear for the #WhiteSox.
The Padres need to replace reigning NL Cy Young Winner Blake Snell in the rotation. The interesting thing is the Yankees or Rangers could sign Snell who is still a free agent.
The Padres are the other team Rosenthal reported that Sox scouts are descending upon.
The draw Cease has is he will not be a free agent until after the 2025 season.
That means he comes cheaper, and he is younger than Snell or Montgomery. Cease nearly won the AL Cy Young in 2022. Yes, he had a disappointing follow-up season with an ERA over 4.50, but his FIP was 3.72 and he finished with a 3.7 fWAR.
The Sox are reportedly interested in obtaining utility man Ezequiel Duran along with pitching prospects Brock Porter and Jack Leiter according to Rosenthal.
Duran will be 25 in May and can play all over the field. He had a .276/.324/.443 slash line in 122 games last season and finished with a wRC+ of 107. Although he was a -5.7 fWAR player on the field. It is interesting to see why the Sox have interest in him given how much emphasis was placed on improving the defense this offseason. He is still a young player with an upside.
Porter is the Rangers' fourth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline while Leiter is the eighth-best prospect.
All three teams are good organizations to do business with.
The Padres have MLB's fourth-ranked farm system according to MLB Pipeline. They have five players in the top 100 including three pitchers.
The Rangers have the seventh-best prospect pool with two players in the top 10. However, general manager Chris Getz would need to have an intense bidding war to get Evan Carter or Wyatt Langford. Porter is ranked 88th in MLB Pipeline's top 100.
The Yankees have the 11th-rated farm system. It includes outfielder Spencer Jones whom every team seems to want in a deal. The Yankees have four players in the top 100.
The White Sox are ranked 20th with their farm system. That is another reason the Sox need to trade Cease now as his value will probably never be higher. Well, they could move before the deadline since a team would get him for a season and a half.
The risk is Cease gets hurt or continues to pitch like he did in 2023. Those are two reasons why Cease might not be the Sox Opening Day starter after all.
Next. Cease piece. Yankees make a lot of sense for a Dylan Cease trade. dark