White Sox Trade Proposal Sends Dylan Cease to AL East in 5-Player Deal

Getty The Yankees will be without Gerrit Cole for a while. This proposed three-team trade gets them rotation help, but it's not Dylan Cease.

Starting pitcher Dylan Cease has been a Chicago White Sox trade candidate since the offseason started in November. With spring training just a couple of weeks away, no trade has materialized yet. However, it’s not like there isn’t at least one team that looks like an obvious fit.

That club is the Baltimore Orioles. Plenty of hypothetical trade proposals have sent Cease to various clubs. Back on January 6, MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa shared the following trade idea that’d bring the right-hander to Baltimore in a five-player deal:

• Orioles receive: RHP Dylan Cease
• White Sox receive: catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo, second baseman/outfielder Connor Norby, left-handed pitcher Cade Povich and infielder Ramón Urías

Urías is the only big leaguer among the group of players headed to Chicago in this hypothetical trade package. When looking at MLB.com’s 2023 rankings, Basallo (fifth), Norby (seventh) and Povich (11th) were all ranked within the Orioles’ top 15 prospects.

An unnamed American League executive told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on January 27 about what they think is left for Baltimore to do this winter. “The Orioles still need a starting pitcher,” they said. “They had a great year [in 2023] and have a terrific young core, but adding a veteran starter would go a long way if they hope to repeat [as AL East champions].”

Orioles Could Use Another Arm Atop Their Rotation

The Orioles are fresh off a 101-win performance in 2023. They’ve only made one major offseason move this winter. It involved signing reliever Craig Kimbrel to a one-year, $13 million deal. Baltimore’s rotation suffered a loss that hasn’t been replaced yet, though.

According to FanGraphs’ Roster Resource, the club’s Opening Day starting staff includes Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells. The one notable name missing is Kyle Gibson. He signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals after a dependable year with the Orioles.

While his 4.73 ERA and 1.32 WHIP don’t jump off the page, he was a veteran arm that tossed 192 innings across 33 starts, which led to a 15-9 record. As it currently stands, the Orioles’ starting rotation is expected to produce 10.3 WAR in 2024, per FanGraphs’ depth-chart projections. That’s the seventh-lowest mark in baseball. No AL East rotation has a lower projection. The next closest is the Boston Red Sox, who check in at 11.9 WAR.

The Orioles are entering 2024 with MLB’s second-lowest payroll, according to Spotrac. They also have a highly-regarded farm system full of elite talent. If there is motivation to make some kind of major acquisition — whether it be via free agency or trade — Baltimore certainly seems capable of doing so.

However, an unnamed National League executive told Feinsand why it might not happen. “That [Cease] would make sense for them,” they said. “But I don’t know that they have the same pressure on them to make a move as the bigger markets do. They could use it, but I don’t know if their fans would be as upset if they didn’t.”

White Sox Are in No Rush to Trade Dylan Cease

Cease has seen his name run through the trade rumor mill all winter. The White Sox are clearly in no rush to make a deal. They have a couple of good reasons why, too.

The hurler won’t be a huge financial burden to Chicago’s 2024 payroll. After avoiding arbitration, the hurler is set to make $8 million in the upcoming season. He’s also under team control for each of the next two years. So, even if the White Sox hold onto the right-hander, dangling him at the trade deadline or even next winter should still yield a significant return.

MLB.com’s Scott Merkin noted on January 26 that manager Pedro Grifol has already named Cease his Opening Day starter, too. So unless something drastic happens in the coming weeks, Cease will remain in the Windy City for the time being. Unfortunately for him, trade rumors involving his name will surely follow.