Padres Generate Buzz for Veteran Starting Pitcher

About nine squads have reached out to the Padres to show interest in Dylan Cease, reports Jon Heyman from The New York Post . Heyman lists the Cubs, Mets and all five AL East teams among that group. The remaining two clubs are unknown, though The Athletic reported in January that the Twins had expressed interest.

A pre-Opening Day trade still seems highly unlikely. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote earlier this week that the Padres were only willing to entertain trading their top starter if they received a significant offensive upgrade in the return package. They’d almost certainly want a controllable starting pitcher who could immediately replace Cease in the rotation as well. That’s a difficult asking price for another team to meet, especially without impactful hitters remaining in free agency to backfill the lineup.

Cease was traded midway through last year’s Spring Training. That was a different situation, as the White Sox were in full rebuild mode when they dealt him to the Padres. San Diego expects to compete for a playoff spot despite budget limitations that kept them from doing much of significance until they added Nick Pivetta on a backloaded four-year deal. Cease worked 189 1/3 innings of 3.47 ERA ball during his first season in San Diego. He struck out 29.4% of opponents and fanned 224 hitters overall — his fourth consecutive season above the 200 mark.

The Padres and Cease have settled on a $13.75 million salary for his last arbitration year. If he becomes a free agent next winter without being traded during the season, he’ll likely get a qualifying offer; otherwise, such an offer wouldn’t apply. Entering his 30th year, Cease might fetch over $200 million in contracts. Although the Padres aren’t hopeful about retaining him, trading him would significantly weaken their current pitching lineup.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney from The Athletic, both the Orioles and Cubs have been keeping an eye on the pitching market recently. At the start of the season, Baltimore won't include Grayson Rodriguez in their rotation. Although Chicago's rotation hasn't faced significant injuries, they'll be missing Javier Assad for several weeks. They're reportedly in talks With free agent Lance Lynn, who would be a significantly cheaper yet considerably riskier choice for bolstering the end of the pitching rotation.

The Mets (with Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea) and the Yankees (featuring Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil) have both suffered setbacks due to player injuries during the current spring training. The situation appears more challenging for the team based in the Bronx. Specifically, Gil is expected to sit out the initial part of the season because of a lat muscle injury. On the other hand, Cole faces an extended absence as he undergoes Tommy John surgery and won’t return until midway through 2026. Despite these significant losses, key figures within the organization such as David Stearns for the Mets and Brian Cashman for the Yankees believe they possess sufficient depth internally to manage through these tough times effectively.

Boston has already traded away two of their top prospects to acquire an impactful starting pitcher through the Garrett Crochet deal. Both Toronto and Tampa Bay possess rotations that could be considered as deep as six pitchers strong. The Blue Jays plan to utilize Yariel Rodríguez for long-relief roles, while the Rays continue to build their pitching staff. could consider trading one of their starters to settle on a five-man group. That could theoretically position Toronto or Tampa Bay to include a controllable starter in a Cease package, though there’s nothing to suggest the Padres are in anything more than due diligence mode with Opening Day two weeks off.

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