The San Diego Padres are reportedly listening to trade offers for a lot of their top players this winter, including ace Dylan Cease. The righty is entering the final year of his contract and San Diego is unlikely to be able to retain him next offseason.
There will be plenty of teams around the league that would love to trade for a star pitcher like Cease, but few will be willing to part ways with the prospects it would take to land him.
Zach Bachar of Bleacher Report recently cited a report from Jon Heyman that revealed the New York Mets were a potential suitor for Cease.
“Cease spent the first five seasons of his career with the Chicago White Sox before he was traded to San Diego in March 2024,” Bachar wrote. “He was a key piece of the Padres’ rotation following the move, finishing with a 14-11 record to go along with a 3.47 ERA and 1.067 WHIP during the 2024 season. He struck out 224 batters in 189.1 innings of work, earning the fourth-most National League Cy Young Award votes. As the Mets look to build upon their NLCS appearance in 2024, they’re reportedly discussing a deal with the Padres involving Cease.”
Cease would be a massive upgrade for the Mets. The righty would step into a rotation full of question marks and provide New York with consistent top-15 starting pitcher production.
While Cease is entering free agency next offseason, that shouldn’t be much of a concern for the Mets. Their owner, Steve Cohen, has the deepest pockets in the league, and re-signing Cease would be quite a realistic possibility.
More MLB: Shocking NL Contender Could Steal $100 Million Pete Alonso From Mets, Per Insider
Read the full article here
