Here's What It Would Reportedly Cost Cardinals To Trade For Dylan Cease

St. Louis would have to give up a haul

The St. Louis Cardinals went into the offseason highly motivated to revamp their pitching staff after a last-place finish in the National League Central.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak wasted no time in acquiring a trio of starting pitchers -- landing Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn before most teams made a single move. 

Still, the rotation is far from elite and could use a young, controllable asset to infuse with a veteran-laden staff. 

One of the top names on the market has been coveted by a plethora of teams but will not come cheap in terms of prospect capital. 

"The Chicago White Sox have recently spoken to the (New York) Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they are not close to trading ace Dylan Cease," USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote Sunday.

"They’re still holding out for two premium prospects and two others in return. If the White Sox don’t get what they want, they’ll hold onto him until they do."

Cease posted a 4.58 ERA with a 214-to-79 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .250 batting average against and a 1.42 WHIP in 177 innings last season. 

The 28-year-old has a career 3.83 ERA (113 ERA+) in 123 starts over his five-season career and has made at least 32 starts for the last three years.

He's a frontline starter coming off an inconsistent season but has two years of team control and all the tools to be a Cy Young-caliber arm -- he finished second for the award in 2022.

With that said, the White Sox's brass are out of their minds for setting such an asking price. Based on these terms, it would cost the Cardinals star right-handed prospect Tink Hence as well as one of outfielders Chase Davis or Victor Scott II plus two more players. That would be an asinine cost for two seasons of a fringe ace.

While Cease would make the current roster much more competitive, that should be a hard pass in order to keep the Cardinals' future bright.

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