Looking to capitalize on the San Diego Padres' payroll crunch, the Chicago Cubs have reportedly checked in on former Cubs prospect and last year's fourth-place finisher in NL Cy Young voting Dylan Cease.
The San Diego Padres desperately need an everyday left-fielder after losing Jurickson Profar to the Atlanta Braves in free agency - and the Cubs are strong in that position prospect-wise, with Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcantara both in MLB Pipeline's preseason top 100 rankings.
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- @jonmorosi on Dylan Cease's trade market. #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/kDPUImqJSy
Cease, 29, has tied for the league lead in games started in three of the last four years, making at least 32 starts annually dating back to 2021. Last season, the right-hander was an effective workhorse for the Friars, tossing 189 1/3 innings of 3.10 FIP ball - good for a 4.2 bWAR campaign that would have, by far, led all Cubs starters (Shota Imanaga led Chicago starting pitchers with 3.0 bWAR in 2024).
Cubs Rumors: Padres shopping Dylan Cease, Michael King
Of course, Cease was originally drafted by the Cubs out of high school in 2014. The sixth-round pick was a consensus top-100 prospect entering the 2017 season and, that summer, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer sent Cease and fellow prospect Eloy Jimenez to the South Side in the Jose Quintana trade. That deal still leaves a sour taste in the mouth of fans in Wrigleyville, so bringing Cease back - if only for one year - would surely be welcomed.
The thing Cubs fans need to understand right now is that you're looking at multiple top-100 guys as a starting point in any sort of Cease deal. You're not going to under-cut AJ Preller just because he wants to unload some payroll. Accepting that now will help everyone level-set expectations as these rumors continue to circulate.
Slotting Cease in atop the rotation alongside Imanaga and Justin Steele would not only make the Cubs the hands-down favorite in the division but one of the top contenders in the National League. Hoyer upgraded the lineup in a big way with the Kyle Tucker trade and has fleshed out a deep mix of bullpen arms to take into camp. A move for a Cy Young-caliber starting pitcher would be the cherry on top of a productive offseason on the North Side and solidify the team's postseason-or-bust approach to 2025.