While we await the White Sox to inevitably trade Dylan Cease, a late-night update on Thursday from Ken Rosenthal seems to signal that a deal might be getting closer.
According to the report, Rosenthal named the Yankees and Orioles as the teams to express the most “sincere” interest in trading for the right-hander. Those aren’t the only two teams still in the race, however, as Rosenthal mentions the Dodgers, Cardinals, and Red Sox as those teams that are likely still in the mix.
The Orioles and the Dodgers are the teams we’ve heard the most rumors about in connection to Cease, with rumors as early as November and December as the Winter Meetings got underway. With the Dodgers signing Shohei Ohtani, trading for Tyler Glasnow, and winning the bidding for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, their connection to Cease has quieted over the recent days – though Rosenthal hesitates to rule them out:
“The Dodgers, even after spending $1 billion this offseason on right-handers Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani, are not ruling out the addition of another starter with Ohtani out as a pitcher until 2025, sources said.”
The Orioles, despite their connection, have been the quietest among the teams listed, with very few names of speculation being offered up by insiders. They remain the wild card team in all of this as the team that possesses the best prospect capital to get a deal done while also being the team that hangs onto their prospects most tightly.
The Yankees are the newest team to be mentioned in rumors, gaining traction after losing out on Yamamoto to the Dodgers. While many assumed the team may turn to Blake Snell instead, it appears that is not necessarily the case, according to Rosenthal:
“The Yankees already have moved seven pitchers and catcher Kyle Higashioka in trades for outfielders Juan Soto, Trent Grisham and Alex Verdugo, compromising their depth. But after losing the bidding for Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the Dodgers, they might be inclined to push for Cease, who will cost approximately $25 million in his final two years of arbitration, as opposed to expected deals of at least $150 million for Snell or Montgomery.“
Yankees bloggers have begun to throw out proposals involving players such as OF Jasson Dominguez, OF Spencer Jones, RHP Chase Hampton, RHP Will Warren, OF Everson Pereira, LHP Brock Selvidge, and RHP Carlos Lagrange. Dominguez, Jones, and Hampton are likely among those being discussed by Getz and Yankees GM Brian Cashman.
Overall, however, we have gotten little detail recently about the ask in return for Cease, though Rosenthal and others speculate that the White Sox’ current asking price is three premium prospects. It’s not clear what “premium” means in this sense – the typical meaning would likely involve top 100 prospects. However, this seems unlikely, especially since few teams listed have the three top 100 prospects necessary to make a move like this even if they wanted to. However, we also know – contrary to recent reports – that the team is staying open-minded to the return package and not necessarily prioritizing pitching:
“They [White Sox] are staying open-minded on the composition of the return and are not necessarily inclined to favor a team that could include major-league-ready pitching, sources said.”
As more information becomes available on a timeline for Dylan Cease’s trade, we will continue to provide updates.
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