Dylan Cease Reiterates Desire to Stay With Padres Amid Swirling Trade Rumors

San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease has been the subject of trade rumors since the offseason began. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller is reportedly still receiving calls regarding a trade for Cease.

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"Though teams are asking about Dylan Cease, a trade still doesn’t seem likely. Earlier, the Mets were among teams showing interest," MLB insiderJon Heyman writes.

Nonetheless, Cease has once again expressed his desire to remain in San Diego for the 2025 season.

"The fanbase is as electric and passionate as any. The whole city is watching."

Despite being the subject of trade rumors this offseason, Dylan Cease is ready to play ball in sunny SoCal🌴:#Padres | #SpringTrainingTour
🔗 https://t.co/3lNMHjejQd pic.twitter.com/F3VfaeFygK
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) March 9, 2025

"The fanbase is as electric and passionate as any," Cease told MLB Network Radio. "The whole city is watching. I love San Diego. It's an ideal scenario, and I'm grateful to be here."

The 29-year-old is arguably the Padres' ace heading into the 2025 season, and is surrounded by other strong starters in Michael King, Yu Darvish, and most recently, Nick Pivetta.

"He's a very big part of our club," Preller told reporters including MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. "The additions the last couple days supplement what's a really good rotation. That's our focus here going forward — having that strong rotation."

In 2024, Cease went 14-11 with an ERA of 3.47 in his inaugural season with the Padres. The right-hander punched 224 strikeouts to only 65 walks across a career-high 189.1 innings pitched in 2024.

This spring, Cease is sporting a 4.76 ERA with five strikeouts across 5.2 innings pitched in Cactus League. He was the first San Diego starter to make his spring training debut.

There is speculation Cease could be the team's Opening Day starter; however, manager Mike Shildt said the Padres have not made a final decision as of yet.

“We’re still working through a few things,” Shildt said, viaMLB.com's AJ Cassavell. “The good news is we have multiple choices. Everyone is like: ‘Is that a hard decision?’ No. It’s a hard decision to make. But it’s good to have that hard decision, because you have multiple guys that could be your No. 1 Opening Day guy.”

The Padres essentially have three strong options to choose from in Cease, King, and Darvish, which is a good problem to have.

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