Who's Left? Finding Dylan Cease Trade Partners for the White Sox

Heading into the winter, just about every White Sox fan was salivating over the idea of making a deal with the Baltimore Orioles. The O's have the sport's top farm system, with a heavy position-player focus. Many of these players are blocked by young, affordable talent on the Orioles' active roster, thus making them expendable in a sense. So the fit with the Sox seems natural, to say the least.

However, the South Siders appear to have a high asking price for Cease, as they should. The Orioles are run by Mike Elias, a man who cut his teeth in the Houston Astros organization during their great teardown and rebuild, doesn't appear eager to part with his young prospect talent despite a clear need for pitching upgrades following an embarrassing postseason exit. I'm not going to focus heavily on the Orioles because we all know why it's a fit, though it just doesn't seem to be happening, yet.

What other clubs out there make sense to acquire Dylan Cease? I think there are a few teams that simply haven't been discussed enough as potential options for Cease's services. So, let's have a look.

Chicago Cubs

Wouldn't it be a cruel twist of fate if Cease was dealt back to the team that drafted him? The deal that sent Jose Quintana to the North Side for Cease and Eloy Jimenez was one of the defining moments of the White Sox' last rebuild. Now, the teams could find themselves as partners once again. The Chicago Cubs narrowly missed the playoffs in 2023, and after declining the option on Marcus Stroman (#FAKE), they conceivably have a rotation void to fill.

They do have young options in Jordan Wicks, Hayden Wisniewski, and Keegan Thompson. But if the Cubs are looking for more certainty, Cease would present an interesting option. Given that Kyle Hendricks is in the twilight of his career, and judging by reactions on social media Cubs fans can't stomach watching Jameson Taillon regularly, Cease could be a reliable piece for a team that should reclaim the NL Central next year.

Adding Cease to their rotation would better position them for October and the powerful offenses they would run into from the likes of the Braves, Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Cubs possess the No. 4 farm system in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, so there's no shortage of options Chris Getz would have to choose from as he looks to make his first signature deal.

Texas Rangers

I find it fascinating that the reigning World Series champions aren't being talked about as a potential landing spot for Dylan Cease. If you believe what you see/hear in the media, the team and its ownership are intent on pushing hard to defend their title in 2024. The current rotation holdovers of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, and Andrew Heaney don't strike fear in the hearts of opposing hitters, to say the least.  

Former White Sox prospect Dane Dunning continues to build up his innings base, but he may have found his niche as a swingman for the Texas Rangers. Recently signed Tyler Mahle has only been able to eclipse the 130-innings mark once in his career, and Max Scherzer will be out until at least June after undergoing offseason back surgery.

Needless to say, the Rangers will have an innings gap they need to fill. Cease has been remarkably durable since arriving at the corner of 35th/Shields on July 3, 2019. As an aside, did you know I ate (22) $1 hot dogs during the doubleheader that took place that day in 100-degree temperatures?

I've long held the belief that the best way for a defending World Series champion to insulate itself from starting pitching fatigue the following year is to acquire the best available starter who didn't pitch in the prior postseason. Cease would certainly be in that discussion. The Rangers have the No. 10 farm system, according to MLB Pipeline, and it has a good mix of positional and pitching talent. Don't get your hopes up thinking that Evan White or Wyatt Langford would be coming back to the White Sox, however.

Arizona Diamondbacks

The team the Rangers beat in the World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks, could also represent an interesting trade partner. Some believe that their acquisition of Eduardo Rodriguez would take them out of the running for Dylan Cease, but the D-backs are going to need to keep adding firepower to keep up with the Dodgers in the NL West.

The D-backs front three of their rotation appears set with the aforementioned Rodriguez, Zac Gallen, and Merill Kelley. However, after those three, there is a tremendous amount of unproven youth in Tommy Henry Pfaadt, although the latter had a coming-out party of sorts in the postseason. Adding Cease could provide another layer of certainty to a team that has another deep October run on its mind and stiff competition standing in its way.

The D-backs still possess the league's No. 12 farm system, according to MLB Pipeline, and that number has taken a hit due to graduations in the last year. There's still enough juice in the system to work out a potential deal for Cease, however.

AL East Tug of War

Here's where things could be interesting. I highlighted the Orioles at the beginning of this piece, and the fit there is obvious. What about the two big-market teams in the AL East? The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees both have clear needs that Dylan Cease could help fill.

The Red Sox are going through a rotation reshuffle of sorts after acquiring one former White Sox starter Lucas Giolito and jettisoning another in Chris Sale, whom we discussed earlier. When Giolito's deal becomes official, the boys from Beantown will still have significant questions in their rotation. Youngsters Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Tanner Houck all have intriguing upside but haven't really shown an ability to handle the meat grinder that is the AL East.

Pairing Cease with his former rotation mate in Giolito could go a long way toward helping the Carmines be more competitive in that gauntlet of a division. As it stands right now, the Red Sox have the No. 16 farm system, according to MLB Pipeline. Their system is remarkably thin on the pitching front but has some very intriguing positional player depth from which a deal could be cobbled together.

After missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Yankees must address their pitching needs. Beyond Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes, the team is littered with question marks. Nobody really knows what the Yankees will get from former White Sox lefty (all these former Sox connections are something) Carlos Rodon in the second season of his multi-year deal.

Clarke Schmidt, Yoendrys Gomez, and Luis Gil look to round out the Yankees rotation. That doesn't necessarily inspire a ton of confidence for a team that has gone 15 years since playing their last World Series. Cease would go a long way toward helping the Yankees return to October.

As it stands today, the Yankees have the No. 21 farm system in baseball, so this isn't a partner I would expect White Sox fans to be excited to consummate a deal with. Ideally, if the Sox could play New York and Boston off one another, maybe that could inspire Mike Elias to finally move some of his prospect capital in Baltimore that we all so desperately want.

The Dylan Cease saga looks like it may be dragging on for a little while longer. Despite all the talk being centered around the Orioles, I think there are other viable trade partners that Chris Getz should be considering at the moment. Hopefully as the starting pitching market continues to unfold, Getz can realize the return he envisioned all along.