Cubs Have Reportedly Checked with Padres on Dylan Cease
This particular connection has been circling the drain for a while now, but it’s gained traction of late as the Padres continue to show a strong willingness to shed payroll ahead of spring training. Between that and the obvious connection of Dylan Cease to his former team, it makes sense that we’d hear about the Cubs being interested in acquiring the righty. The problem has been the acquisition cost, which to this point has been exorbitant.
If there’s one thing Jed Hoyer is really good at, it’s waiting out the market for good value. That naturally means he’s also bad at the same thing since he’s missed out on plenty of targets due to being overly patient. Wait, does that mean he’s just mediocre? Whatever, let me get back to the topic.
The Padres have all but put up three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri to advertise their willingness to trade Cease, Robert Suárez, and Michael King. We covered the latter pitchers recently and have included Suárez in a number of pieces about the Cubs’ bullpen search, with Cease also popping up at least one other time in our offseason coverage. So why get into this again?
Because just like a bad penny or Alex Bregman, the reports about Cease and the Cubs keep turning up. Surely it’s got nothing to do with Scott Boras perpetually chumming the waters to drive up interest in his players. Jon Morosi joined MLB Network Thursday morning to discuss the Cease market and hype the Cubs as potential suitors.
The Cubs have spoken with the Padres about Dylan Cease, as I reported on #MLBNHotStove this morning. https://t.co/JGynIJclhY
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 30, 2025
“What I was told yesterday by sources is that one team to watch in the potential of moving Dylan Cease — and again, Dylan Cease is more likely to move than Michael King because Cease makes more money and therefore he would bring more payroll flexibility if they move him,” Morosi said. “So Cease is the more likely one to move and one of the teams to watch, the Chicago Cubs. Why the Cubs? Well here’s why: They’ve got seven of the top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.”
Morosi went on to note that six of the seven prospects in question are projected to debut this season, with only Jefferson Rojas looking at a 2026 ETA. That’s a good problem to have for the Cubs, who now possess plenty of depth at Triple-A Iowa but also have nowhere to play most of these guys. They won’t call prospects up just to ride the pine and, pending the health of Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson, have a solid position-player group.
Some of those prospects will have to be moved, it’s just a question of when and for whom. Most amateur trade proposals for King included Javier Assad, one of either Owen Caissie or Kevin Alcántara, and a lower-end sweetener like Gage Workman or someone in that tier. If Cease is the target, we’re looking at a good measure of real sugar rather than a single packet of Truvia.
That strikes me as a bigger risk than Jed Hoyer is willing to make, especially with Cease only under contract for one more year. Then again, replacing Assad with a potential ace-level starter for just $13.75 million elevates the rotation in a big way and boosts the Cubs’ odds significantly when it comes to winning the division and making noise in the postseason. A top three that goes Justin Steele, Cease, and Shota Imanaga is quite formidable and also offers very different looks in terms of velo, handedness, and stuff.
Though I remain skeptical of a deal getting done, I’ve believed for a long time now that Hoyer would have to move one or two of his top prospects in order to accelerate his team’s competitiveness. Those young players can’t all come up and contribute, and hugging them too tightly could mean the Cubs are left getting nothing in return in the event that they don’t all pan out. Now it’s just a matter of picking which to keep and which to deal.
Update: Indications are that Padres baseball boss AJ Preller is asking for Matt Shaw and more in a Cease deal, which is laughable. The Cubs won’t be dealing Shaw at all, so moving him for one year of any player is not worth discussing. Sounds like the Padres may be offering Cease as a mere formality just to see if some team is willing to get stupid.