White Sox Rumors: 4 teams are currently in on Dylan Cease

The Winter Meetings are underway and the Dylan Cease storyline is the biggest one surrounding the Chicago White Sox. The Chicago White Sox were trying to trade him for a fair package at the trade deadline but it never got done.

Pitching is king in Major League Baseball and Cease is a very good pitcher. He had a down year by his standards in 2023 after a dominant performance in 2022.

Every team in the league would want a guy who is entering his age-28 season and has a 43-35 record, 3.83 ERA, and 792 strikeouts in 658.0 innings.

We saw in the playoffs that there were a few teams that should have traded for Cease. Now, the White Sox can use that as leverage to get the best possible return.

The Chicago White Sox may be trading Dylan Cease sometime this week

According to MLB insider Jon Morosi, there are four teams involved in this sweepstakes. Those four teams are the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Three of those four teams (Baltimore, Atlanta, and Los Angeles) were so good last season that they had a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The fourth team, Cincinnati, missed the playoffs despite having a very good (and unexpected) year.

Each team would be taking a step forward with their roster if they added Cease. It also helps that he is a cost-controlled pitcher who won't need a major raise for a couple of more years. They can still go out and make more moves if they get Cease.

Cease is one of a few good pitchers available in different ways right now on the trade market and the top free agent starters are going to cost an arm and a leg. Complicating matters is that Shohei Ohtani isn't going to pitch in 2024 as he recovers from Tommy John, although he will certainly come back to pitch in 2025.

The White Sox have an opportunity here to set the market with a huge trade. Cease is a fantastic pitcher who will be motivated to pitch well going forward, especially if he is on a team that supports him better. We can only hope that the return is good for the White Sox.