Dylan Cease

The New York Yankees made one final trade offer to the Chicago White Sox for right-handed starting pitcher Dylan Cease before the San Diego Padres landed him Tuesday.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported the news:

Can confirm the Yankees made a final trade proposal for Dylan Cease in the last 24 to 48 hours.

Clearly, the Yankees are still working to add an impact starting pitcher.@MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 14, 2024

The 28-year-old Cease was one of baseball's best pitchers in 2022, when he finished second in the American League Cy Young race. During that season, Cease went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA (1.11 WHIP) and 227 strikeouts over 32 starts. He regressed in 2023, going 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA (1.42 WHIP) and 214 strikeouts over 33 starts.

The Yankees have been looking for starting pitching even after signing Marcus Stroman to the rotation earlier this offseason, with links to both Cease and Blake Snell.

But with staff ace Gerrit Cole out for at least one-to-two months with an ailing right elbow that requires additional testing, the Yankees perhaps have more sense of urgency to get another pitcher to the Bronx.

Cease is off the market now, though, and now perhaps the Yankees turn more of their attention to Snell, the best remaining free agent on the market.

The problem is that there's competition. Per MLB.com, the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies all have interest in him. However, Snell reportedly wants to go to the Angels, per ESPN's Buster Olney on last Thursday's edition of the Baseball Tonight podcast.

"I'm hearing that Blake Snell's preference -- strong preference -- is to go to the Angels," Olney said. "There [has] been back-and-forth with that team. That's where I think he's going to land."

The Yankees could also sign an old friend in Jordan Montgomery, a left-hander who played for the Bronx Bombers from 2017-2022 before the team traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals. One year later, Montgomery starred for the Texas Rangers en route to their first-ever World Series title.

For now, though, the top four Yankees' rotation consists of Stroman, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes, although it's certainly possible New York makes a move before the season begins on March 28.

The San Diego Padres are never boring.

It appeared they might be this offseason after trading Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and letting bullpen dynamo Josh Hader and starting pitcher Blake Snell walk in free agency (Hader signed with the Houston Astros, while Snell remains a free agent).

Until Wednesday, the team's only major roster additions outside of the return received from the Soto trade were Yuki Matsui, Wandy Peralta, Enyel De Los Santos and Woo Suk Go, all upgrades for the bullpen.

But the Padres had an ace up their sleeves. Literally.

San Diego reportedly traded for Dylan Cease on Wednesday, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, a move that addressed the need for another quality arm in the rotation while fitting within the team's payroll-trimming approach to the 2024 offseason.

Per sources, the entire return for Dylan Cease is RHP Drew Thorpe (Padres No. 5 prospect per @MLBPipeline), Samuel Zavala (No. 7), Jairo Iriarte (No. 8) and RH reliever Steven Wilson. Thorpe is No. 85 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect list.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) March 14, 2024

#MLBTonight reacts to the report that the Padres are finalizing a trade to a acquire RHP Dylan Cease from the White Sox. pic.twitter.com/eM5aOlK32o

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 13, 2024

Cease scratches two itches: He'll give the team another quality arm and he'll do so with two more years of club control, only costing $8 million this upcoming season.

Depending on who the team sends out in the trade, the Padres' payroll should be sitting around $152 million and an estimated tax payroll of around $215 million, keeping them below the competitive balance tax threshold of $237 million.

And that rotation is once again looking stacked. Cease will join Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Michael King as guaranteed starters, while Randy Vásquez, Jhony Brito, Pedro Avila and Matt Waldron, among others, all compete for the final rotation spot.

Did you really think Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller wasn't going to make a splash with an incoming star this offseason?

You can Cease with that line of thinking. The Padres keep it fun.

The San Diego Padres bolstered their rotation by acquiring Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Right-handed pitcher Drew Thorpe (Padres' No. 5 prospect, per MLB.com), outfielder Samuel Zavala (No. 7) and right-handed pitchers Jairo Iriarte (No. 8) and Steven Wilson will go to Chicago in the deal.

ESPN's Jeff Passan first reported the deal, with Jon Morosi of Fox Sports and Jon Heyman of the New York Post providing additional details.

Going into his first full season as White Sox general manager, Chris Getz seems to have acknowledged the franchise needed an overhaul. He declined Tim Anderson's option for 2024, traded reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves for a package of five players and has now dealt their best pitcher in the middle of his prime.

Cease is coming off a down year in which he posted a 4.58 ERA in a career-high 33 starts. It was his worst ERA in a season since he was a rookie in 2019 (5.79).

The main issue that has caused Cease problems throughout his career is a lack of command. His 4.0 walks per nine innings and 79 total walks ranked in the bottom five among all qualified starters in 2023.

Cease has never walked fewer than 3.7 batters per nine innings in a season in his career. Combine that with allowing a career-high 8.7 hits per nine innings last season, and it explains why he wasn't able to maintain the form that made him a star in 2022.

But the upside is absolutely there for Cease to be one of the best pitchers in MLB again. He's one of the best strikeout artists in the game with at least 10.0 punchouts per nine in four of his first five seasons.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Cease has the fourth-highest strikeout rate in MLB (11.4). The only pitchers ahead of him are Spencer Strider (13.6), Blake Snell (11.9) and Carlos Rodón (11.7).

Cease has struck out at least 200 hitters in each of the past three seasons. Another part of his problems in 2023 was something he had no control over. The White Sox had a bottom-six defense by outs above average and runs prevented.

Playing with a better defense behind him should instantly lead to improved results for Cease. He's only one year removed from finishing second in AL Cy Young voting.

The Padres also get the benefit of having Cease under control for two seasons before he is eligible for free agency after the 2025 campaign. He's been one of the best pitchers in MLB for the past three years and can be a true difference-maker in a pennant race.

Even though it's hard to give up on a top-of-the-rotation starter with multiple years of team control left in the prime of his career, the White Sox needed a hard reset after missing the playoffs in each of the past two years and losing 101 games in 2023.

The return for Cease adds a lot more high-upside talent to Chicago's farm system. Getz still has a lot of work to do building a full roster capable of competing for a playoff spot, but this is a strong start for the first-year general manager.

The group of Blake Snell, Nick Martinez, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha pitched a total of 571 innings last season for the Padres. Lugo, Martinez and Wacha left to join different teams in free agency.

Snell is still a free agent and could potentially return to San Diego, but there's no indication the team is looking to bring back the 2023 NL Cy Young winner.

San Diego did target pitching when it traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees. The deal brought back Michael King and Jhony Brito, who combined for 195 innings last season, to the Padres.

Still, the rotation was lacking a true ace-level starter who can give the Padres a chance to compete in a division that figures to be dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cease will immediately step in as the best pitcher on San Diego's staff. His control issues are a bit reminiscent of what Snell's, but he's got a much stronger track record of durability and overpowering stuff to be a huge difference-maker.

Meanwhile, Chicago will receive three of San Diego's top prospects.

Thorpe was one of five players acquired by the Padres in the Juan Soto trade with the Yankees in December. The 23-year-old went 14-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 23 starts between High-A and Double-A in 2023. He recorded 182 strikeouts in 139.1 innings.

Zavala, a 19-year-old outfielder, hit .243/.391/.406 between Single-A and High-A last year.

As for Iriarte, the 22-year-old right-hander went 3-4 with a 3.49 ERA in 27 outings (including 21 starts) between High-A and Double-A in 2023. He logged 128 strikeouts in 90.1 innings.

Wilson has made 102 appearances (including one start) for the Padres since the start of the 2022 season, posting a 3.91 ERA in 52 outings. He struck out 57 batters in 53 innings for San Diego last season.

Two weeks before the start of the 2024 MLB regular season, the trade market for Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease is picking up steam.

Per MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the San Diego Padres have joined the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers as teams that have had talks with the White Sox about Cease.

Morosi noted a trade is now seen as "plausible" based on the volume of talks both the Yankees and Rangers have had with Chicago recently.

All three teams have an obvious need for a pitcher like Cease. The Padres lost 571 innings from their 2023 staff with the departures of Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez.

Snell is still available as a free agent, but there has been no indication San Diego is looking to bring back the reigning NL Cy Young winner.

The Padres did add help to their rotation by acquiring Michael King and Jhony Brito from the New York Yankees in the Juan Soto trade. They still have Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove to anchor the starting staff, but neither of them is a No. 1 at this point in their careers.

The Yankees' urgency for a starter could depend on what the results of Gerrit Cole's MRI ends up being. Aaron Boone told reporters Monday his star pitcher was having imaging done after experiencing some issues recovering between appearances this spring.

Texas hasn't completely ruled out bringing back Jordan Montgomery after he helped the team win the World Series last season, but general manager Chris Young recently said it's looking "less likely" a reunion will happen.

If the Rangers don't sign Montgomery, they will enter the season with Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Andrew Heaney as their top three starting pitchers.

Cease is an attractive trade candidate for any team looking for pitching help. He's only making $8 million this season and is under team control through 2025.

The 28-year-old has started at least 32 games and struck out at least 214 hitters in each of the past three seasons. He finished second to Justin Verlander in the 2022 AL Cy Young voting.

San Diego has the unenviable task of playing in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's going to be an uphill climb for the Padres to win the NL West, but they can significantly boost their playoff chances if they find a way to land Cease in a trade.

The Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox have reportedly "engaged in recent discussions" regarding star pitcher Dylan Cease, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

According to that report, the White Sox's "desired return" is in "the range of these three players, if not them specifically: utility man Ezequiel Durán and pitching prospects Brock Porter and Jack Leiter."

Cease, 28, is an intriguing target for teams like the Rangers for two main reasons.

One, he's very good. He finished the 2023 season with a 7-9 record, 4.58 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 214 strikeouts in 177 innings, making 33 starts. It was his third straight season with over 200 strikeouts and arguably something of a down year by the standards he's set—his career ERA (3.83) and WHIP (1.30) are better than the marks he posted last season, and he was the AL Cy Young runner-up in 2022.

Two, Cease has two more years of club control and will make just $8 million in the 2024 season before entering arbitration one more time ahead of the 2025 campaign. As Rosenthal noted, that might make him more intriguing than a player like Jordan Montgomery, who remains available in free agency and was a key figure for the Rangers' run to a World Series title last season.

By adding Cease, the team could eventually have a rotation of him, Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle, once the latter three return from injury. Until then, however, the rotation is looking rough.

So it didn't come as a major surprise when Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported on Tuesday that "White Sox scouts have descended in droves upon Rangers camp this week," a clear indication that the two sides were discussing a potential Cease trade.

But he won't come cheap. Porter is the No. 4 prospect in the Rangers' farm system, according to MLB.com's rankings, and the No. 88 overall prospect in baseball. And Leiter is considered the team's No. 8 overall prospect.

So would the Rangers rather give up talented young prospects while maintaining more payroll, or splash the cash on a pitcher like Montgomery while keeping their farm system stocked?

For now, it appears the answer is the former.

As the New York Yankees await results from Gerrit Cole's MRI, it appears Dylan Cease is back on their radar.

Per USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Yankees have made a new proposal to the Chicago White Sox for the right-handed pitcher.

Nightengale did note New York's offer doesn't include outfield prospect Spencer Jones.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Monday that Cole was having an MRI on his right elbow after experiencing difficulty bouncing back between starts.

"He described it as his recovery before getting to his next start has been more akin to what he feels during the season when he's making 100 pitches," Boone said. "When he's throwing 45 and 55, he usually doesn't have the recovery issues he's having. It's just been more of a challenge and more taxing, so we're going to get an MRI just to see what we're dealing with there."

Boone said on Tuesday there's no official update, but Cole will undergo more tests on Tuesday. He also said based on the timing of things, even if they get positive news, it's unlikely the reigning AL Cy Young winner will be ready for the start of the regular season.

Boone said no update on the Cole MRI. Will undergo more tests today. But also acknowledged the obvious: regardless of the results, because of where Cole is in his buildup he likely won’t be ready for te opener & the org has discussed who that would be. The guess here is Stroman

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) March 12, 2024

The White Sox spent most of the offseason shopping Cease around to interested teams. No deal ever came together, in part because Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network quoted one general manager as saying Chicago wanted "the sun and the moon" for the 28-year-old.

Nightengale reported on Sunday the White Sox had "extensive talks" with the Yankees about Cease, but they "never came close to receiving an offer" that tempted them to say yes.

If the Yankees do have long-term concerns about Cole's elbow, they have plenty of options to choose from. If they want to add an impact pitcher without trading away the prospect capital it would require to get Cease, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are still on the free-agent market.

Cease is arguably better than both of those pitchers right now. His 4.58 ERA last season was inflated by a terrible White Sox defense, but he still struck out 214 hitters in 177 innings. He's been durable with 97 starts over the past three years.

New York's rotation behind Cole has many question marks. Marcus Stroman was signed as a free agent in January after posting a 3.95 ERA with the Chicago Cubs in 2023. Carlos Rodón is looking to rebound after a terrible debut season in the Bronx with a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts.

The Yankees will begin the 2024 regular season on March 28 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Cease is currently slated to be Chicago's starter for its Opening Day against the Detroit Tigers.