Dylan Cease

As the wait for Yoshinobu Yamamoto to decide where he's going to play in 2024 continues, teams that miss out on the Japanese star will have plenty of options available on the trade market to pick from.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Chicago White Sox are "inclined to wait" until all of the top free-agent starters, including Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, to come off the board before getting into serious talks with teams about Dylan Cease.

The Milwaukee Brewers are "willing to trade" Corbin Burnes, but will only do so for the "proverbial right price."

Rosenthal cited the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers as teams expected to have interest in both Cease and Burnes.

Shane Bieber's status with the Cleveland Guardians is also uncertain right now, but Rosenthal noted he's "seemingly in lesser demand" after he struggled with injury issues last season and has seen a notable decline in his velocity in recent years.

The Brewers and Guardians have spent this offseason seemingly operating in cost-cutting mode. They have combined to spend $15 million in free agency thus far.

Burnes has been the best pitcher of the three trade candidates. He's finished in the top 10 in NL Cy Young voting in four consecutive seasons, including winning the award in 2021. The 29-year-old had a 3.39 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 193.2 innings last season.

Bieber is something of a mystery at this point. He only made 21 starts last season due to elbow inflammation, and his 3.80 ERA and 1.23 WHIP were his highest since his rookie campaign in 2018.

Since the 2020 season when his fastball averaged 94.2 mph, Bieber has lost nearly three miles per hour off the heater. His average fastball velocity of 91.3 mph last season was in the 13th percentile of all pitchers. He ranked in the second percentile in average exit velocity and third percentile in hard-hit percentage.

Rosenthal noted the Guardians might be best served by holding onto Bieber going into the season, let him prove he's healthy and rebuild his value before attempting to trade him near the deadline in July.

Burnes and Bieber are both entering their final season of arbitration. Burnes is projected to earn $14.1 million, while Bieber is close behind with a projected salary of $12.2 million.

This is where Cease might end up bringing back a bigger return for the White Sox than either Burnes does for Milwaukee or Bieber does for Cleveland. His performance hasn't been as consistent from year to year as either of the other players, but he's under team control through 2025 with an estimated salary of $8.3 million next season.

Cease had the second-worst ERA of his career last season (4.58), but he tied for the AL lead with 33 starts and struck out more than 200 hitters for the third consecutive year.

The best version of Cease is a Cy Young candidate. He finished second to Justin Verlander for the award in 2022 after posting a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 184 innings.

Given where Chicago's roster is at and where its farm system stands, trading Cease at arguably the peak of his value with multiple years of control left would be its best approach.

There will certainly be more clarity on the future for all three pitchers once the free-agent market settles down.

MLB teams have reportedly said the Chicago White Sox are "pulling back" on trade talks regarding starting pitcher Dylan Cease, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

But Heyman speculated that the White Sox are likely "waiting to see who misses out on the coveted Japanese star [Yoshinobu Yamamoto]. Still thought to be a good chance Cease is dealt."

While Cease hasn't quite been at the forefront of MLB rumors like the free agencies of Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto and the potential Juan Soto trade, there's been plenty of buzz surrounding him this winter.

The Atlanta Braves were one of the popular teams linked to him, but Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported Monday that he Cease was "certainly on the Braves' radar, but it doesn't feel like there is currently a fit. In fact, it seems like Atlanta's interest and involvement has been overblown."

Heyman, meanwhile, previously reported that the Baltimore Orioles are a team to watch in the Cease sweepstakes:

And Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported the Cease market was "robust" and listed a number of potential suitors:

It make sense.

Cease, 27, is still under club control for two more seasons and estimated to make around $8.3 million in arbitration next year, per Spotrac. While he didn't have his best season in 2023 (7-9 with a 4.58 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 214 strikeouts in 177 innings across 33 starts), he put up ace-worthy numbers in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

For teams with a strong farm system that don't want to dish out the cash it will take to sign a Yamamoto, Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell—and don't want to absorb Tyler Glasnow's $25 million salary next season in a trade or risk losing him in free agency one year from now—Cease is a logical target.

So the White Sox could hold out for a high price. But for a rebuilding team fresh off a brutal 61-101 season, cashing in now and bolstering the farm system makes sense, hence Heyman's skepticism about the possibility of Chicago backing away from Cease talks for good.

The Atlanta Braves could be in line to add another dynamic starter to the rotation.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Braves are the current favorite to acquire Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease this offseason.

However, there are multiple teams that could stand in Atlanta's way of acquiring Cease, as Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that talks centered around the pitcher have been "robust" during the winter meetings.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles were the other team's named in Morosi's report, but he did not shut the door on the possibility of other team's being in on the White Sox pitcher.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post previously reported that the New York Mets were likely "shifting focus" away from players like Cease due to not having the prospect pool to acquire him.

Cease had a lackluster 2023 season, sporting a 4.58 ERA with a 7-9 record. This is an overall outlier for his career, as he finished second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022 with a 2.20 ERA and a 14-8 record and is viewed to be a premier arm.

The 27-year-old has two years of control remaining on his contract, so he would be a multi-year factor for whatever team acquires him. This makes him both more attractive and more expensive, and it makes sense for the White Sox to sell high on him right now ahead of another potential rebuilding period.

The Braves have a strong farm system that is flush with young pitching talent, but the team is in a championship window right now and Cease could be the missing piece.

He could join a rotation that already boasts Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider, and this depth would further solidify the team's pitching staff as one of the best in MLB.

Still, the Braves remain as involved as ever and appear to be quite the threat to poach Cease ahead of the 2024 season.

Trade discussions surrounding Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease "have intensified in the last 48 hours," according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi.

Morosi reported there's a chance he's moved before the winter meetings get underway Dec. 4. The Atlanta Braves are reportedly one of the finalists still pursuing a deal.

Atlanta's rotation looks to be set for the most part, with Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Max Fried and Bryce Elder all figuring into the equation. That hasn't stopped the front office from thinking big in terms of that fifth spot.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Bradley wrote they "made a run at Aaron Nola" and "surely kicked the tires on Sonny Gray," only to see both land elsewhere. The newly signed Reynaldo López could be a candidate for the rotation, but the continued pursuit of Cease underlines how nothing is set in stone there.

The right-hander sported a 4.58 ERA, his worst since his rookie season in 2019, and had an MLB-high 14 wild pitches to finish out 2023. According to Baseball Savant, he also fell from the 90th percentile in expected ERA (2.70) to the 51st (4.13) while allowing a career-high 41.6 percent hard hit rate.

Perhaps Cease simply had a poor season, which is a plausible explanation with how poorly this past year went on the South Side. This is somebody who was the American League Cy Young Award runner-up in 2022.

Because of the options they already have at their disposal, the Braves don't necessarily need to shop for an ace, either. They could afford to bank on Cease returning to form in 2024.

The $8.3 million Cease is projected to earn in arbitration, per Spotrac, would also be helpful for a team looking at a $181.6 million payroll. A comparable pitcher will almost certainly carry a much higher salary on the open market.

The Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and "several" other teams are "engaged in trade talks" with the Chicago White Sox regarding starting pitcher Dylan Cease, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Cease, 27, was 7-9 in the 2023 season with a 4.58 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 214 strikeouts in 177 innings. It was a bit of a down year for the starting pitcher after he was excellent in the 2021 and 2022 seasons and was the AL Cy Young runner-up in 2022.

The White Sox, meanwhile, were miserable last year, going 61-101 as they continued to regress after making the playoffs in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. A rebuild is coming, especially after owner Jerry Reinsdorf fired executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn in August.

Moving a player like Cease—who is arbitration-eligible in both 2024 and 2025—would fetch the team a solid return and help restock the farm system for such a rebuild. That makes him a logical trade target for contenders around baseball, namely ones in desperate need of bolstering the starting rotation like the Braves and Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, still reeling from a postseason appearance that saw them swept by the eventual National League Champion Arizona Diamondbacks, appear poised to address the biggest question mark on their team: starting pitching.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that, "The Los Angeles Dodgers are in trade talks with the Chicago White Sox in an attempt to acquire ace Dylan Cease. The Dodgers badly need pitching help, and the White Sox badly need to rebuild their roster."

The Dodgers gave up 29 hits, nine home runs, and had a team ERA of 6.58. Pitching let them down exponentially against the D'backs and cost them an opportunity to turn another quality season into a World Series appearance.

Cease would be a great addition to the rotation, even if his 2023 was not particularly worth writing home about.

He followed up a Cy Young-worthy season in 2022 (2.20 ERA, 14-8 record) with an outing that reflected the team he played for. The White Sox were a disaster, limping through another season in which they did not live up to the talent level on the team, presumably leading to another rebuild.

Cease went 7-9 with a 1.42 WHIP and an ERA of 4.58.

At one point, it appeared as though he would be traded at the deadline but no team could make the deal.

It appears as though that wrong is about to be righted, with the Dodgers recognizing his skills and looking for him to bolster their roster.

Los Angeles has a great coaching staff that will, hopefully, help Cease rediscover the stuff that had him in the conversation with the best in the game at his position.

He will have the opportunity to play with leads, thanks to the Dodgers' explosive offensive, and may benefit strictly from a change in scenery.

If the Dodgers can get even half of what Cease was in 2022, they will be in a better position entering next season, with an opportunity to compete for another world title. If they can manage to add another free agent to the mix, be it Shohei Ohtani via a massive deal or someone like Sonny Gray or Blake Snell on a smaller-yet-still-large contract, they will be even better off.