(Audacy) With ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto now off the board in free agency, some dominoes are sure to start falling. White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease might be among them.
Yamamoto agreed to a 12-year, $325-million deal with the Dodgers late Thursday night, according to reports, as Los Angeles’ remarkable winter continues. That leaves Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery as the best remaining pitching options available in free agency.
Beyond that, the trade market is expected to be busy as well with aces in Cease, Brewers right-hander Corbin Burnes and Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber all landing in rumors this winter. As it pertains to Cease, his market could heat up soon, Audacy MLB insider Jon Heyman told the Mully & Haugh Show on Friday morning.
“They needed to wait for Yamamoto to come off the board," Heyman said. "He was the apple of everybody’s eye, and now Cease looks pretty darn good, right? Two years of control, Bieber’s only got one year, Burnes has only got one year. He answers the bell, the guy does not get hurt. He’s basically at 32 starts every year.
“He wasn’t as good this past year, but they should be able to get a ton for him if they trade him, which I do think they are actively talking to teams. Now that Yamamoto is off the board, I think that will heat up.”
The Orioles boast a robust farm system and are among the teams that have been linked to Cease. If the White Sox are going to get a haul for Cease, then doing business with the Orioles and plucking some of their top prospects could really bolster Chicago’s prospect pool.
“I don’t think (the Orioles are) going to trade (Jackson Holliday), he’s a can’t-miss, several hundred million dollar player at some point,” Heyman said. “They’re not going to trade him, they’re not going to trade Gunnar Henderson, but Baltimore has so many good players, that (Jordan Westburg) kid is very good too. They’ve got a ton of guys, that’s the team that I would focus on.
“Cincinnati’s got good prospects as well, the Dodgers still have good prospects — but I guess we don’t want to see him go to the Dodgers, they have enough good players. I think if they get four of the top 10 prospects, first of all it depends on the team, but if it’s Baltimore, that’s a hell of a trade. If they can pull that off, I’d tip my hat to them.”
Cease, who will turn 28 next week, posted a 4.58 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 177 innings across 33 starts in 2023. Cease was the American League Cy Young runner-up in 2022, when he had a 2.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 184 innings across 32 starts.
He has also been as durable as any starter in MLB in recent years, making a combined 97 starts across the past three seasons.