Seattle Mariners Reportedly "Quietly" Enter the Trade Talks For Ace Starting Pitcher
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Seattle Mariners have entered the trade talks for Chicago White Sox' ace Dylan Cease.
Per Nightengale:
The Seattle Mariners have quietly entered trade talks with the Chicago White Sox for ace Dylan Cease, with the White Sox seeking a package centered around young starter Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo.
If the Mariners meet the White Sox’s steep asking price, they would have one of the most powerful starting rotations in baseball with a Luis Castillo, Cease, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby.
If the White Sox can’t complete a trade with the Mariners, they are expected to open the season with Cease. They could revisit trade talks with teams towards the July 30 trade deadline or wait to see if a team becomes desperate with a sudden injury.
This isn't the first time that the M's have been linked to Cease and the fit remains curious, so let's examine it:
1) The Mariners already have five starters this season, as Nightengale acknowledges. They don't need another starting pitcher. What they need is a bat, which is why the thought process here is wonky. However, if Seattle can't get a bat, maybe they are deciding to just have the best pitching in the American League...
2) Even with that premise, the deal is still curious. The Mariners, concerned all offseason about money, are going to take on more salary with less control for Cease, when they have Woo/Miller on pre-arb deals for multiple more years? Cease has just two years of team control left.
The 27-year-old Cease struggled in 2023, just as the White Sox did. He went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA. He's still an elite strikeout artist, fanning 214 batters in 177.0 innings. Lifetime, he's 43-35 with a 4.58 ERA. He finished second in American League Cy Young voting in 2022.
Seattle finished third in the American League West last season with an 88-74 record.
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