White Sox Pitcher Dylan Cease Voted Most Likely Player to Get Traded by MLB Insiders

Adam WellsFebruary 22, 2024

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After spending the entire offseason hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors, Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease can expect more of the same during the season until he gets moved.

In a survey of current and former MLB executives, coaches and scouts by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, Cease was overwhelmingly voted as the most likely player to be traded.

Cease received 14 votes from the panel, nine more than any other player (Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames).

One of the biggest surprises from the offseason was that Cease didn’t get traded. This seemed like a perfect time for the White Sox to cash in with the most valuable asset they have left to get a package that could help the franchise rebuild from the ground up.

While it’s still possible a deal could happen now that spring training has started, one AL executive told Stark the White Sox will likely wait until closer to the trade deadline during the season when teams will “pay a ton” for a frontline starter.

Of course, the reason Cease is still with Chicago right now is due in part to the asking price general manager Chris Getz has put on him.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported in January that Getz wanted “multiple high-end prospects” and additional “fill-ins” for Cease.

In addition to the high asking price, one thing that may have impacted trade talks for Cease was the deep free-agent market for pitchers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shōta Imanaga, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez were all available when the offseason started.

Reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are still unsigned. Cease will cost less than either of those pitchers in terms of money, but teams would also have to give up multiple young players to get him.

The White Sox can also afford to be selective right now. Cease is only making $8 million this year and is under team control through 2025. History has shown it’s in their best interest to trade him at some point this season because his value only goes down the closer he gets to free agency.

For example, the Milwaukee Brewers traded former NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles on Feb. 2 as he enters his final year of team control.

Milwaukee did get one current (Joey Ortiz) and former (DL Hall) top-100 prospect, plus the No. 34 pick in the 2024 MLB draft, but the return was still considered light for a pitcher of Burnes’ caliber.

Cease’s ERA was inflated last season (4.58) primarily because the White Sox had the worst defense in MLB. He struck out 214 in 177 innings and has started at least 32 games in each of the past three seasons.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Cease’s 667 strikeouts are the fourth-most in MLB.