Braves reportedly offered Vaughn Grissom "and others" for White Sox's Dylan Cease, per ESPN

Sometimes, the best deal is the one you don't make.

ESPN's Jesse Rogers, writing about Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease, reports that the Atlanta Braves offered a multiple player package to the White Sox headlined by infielder Vaughn Grissom, but Chicago wanted more.

The timing of the discussions, per Rogers, was both during the negotiations for and after the Aaron Bummer trade, which went down late in the evening of November 16th and saw Atlanta send a five-player package for the lefty reliever.

Reportedly, one of the sticking points for the deal to go through was Atlanta's reluctance to part with the "multiple high-end prospects" needed to complete the deal. We don't know exactly which prospects were requested from Atlanta, but we can get an idea from reporting on other deals that have come out.

The Cincinnati Reds expressed interest earlier in the offseason, and the requested compensation package from White Sox GM Chris Gaetz was purported to be a combination of Rhett Lowder, Chase Petty, Connor Phillips, Edwin Arroyo, and another unnamed prospect.

Lowder (No. 2), Arroyo (No. 3), Phillips (No. 4) and Petty (No. 6) are all considered top prospects in the Reds' farm system.

An equivalent package from Atlanta, counting Grissom as one of the top prospects, would have probably required at least three of the group of pitchers Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, Spencer Schwellenbach, JR Ritchie, and Owen Murphy, with both Waldrep and Smith-Shawver undoubtedly required to be in the deal.

Cease is under team control for two seasons, not becoming a free agent until 2026, and is projected to make $8.8M in arbitration this season.

Instead, Atlanta wisely pivoted, making a deal with Boston to acquire Chris Sale at the cost of just Grissom. After accounting for both the money that the Red Sox are sending over ($17M) and the new extension that Sale signed, he'll cost only $22M in salary for two seasons of control, hitting free agency in 2026.

And unlike with a deal for Cease, Atlanta will have both Smith-Shawver and Waldrep there to replace Sale in the rotation should he depart in free agency.

Did Alex Anthopoulos make the right decision in saving multiple top prospects? Let us know your thoughts!

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