Padres Likely to Hold Onto $14 Million All-Star Trade Candidate: Report

Nov 21, 2023; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller speaks to the media during a press conference announcing the hiring of manager Mike Shildt (not pictured) at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

As spring training quickly approaches, the San Diego Padres will likely trade a player in order to cut payroll and find a more affordable option. However, one player the Padres are reportedly unlikely to trade is starting pitcher Dylan Cease.

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Cease emerged as a potential trade candidate earlier this offseason, but his fate in San Diego is likely sealed now that Roki Sasaki signed elsewhere.

Had Saski signed with the Padres, the organization likely would have been more willing trade Cease. However, trading him away would now create a huge void in the starting rotation which the Padres can't afford.

Cease sported a 3.47 ERA with a 14-11 record in his first season with the Padres. In July, he threw the second no-hitter in franchise history against the Washington Nationals and he also earned a fourth place finish in Cy Young voting.

Given his standout performance, the Padres likely won't want to give up such a valuable asset in their starting rotation.

"Unless a can't-miss opportunity presents itself, San Diego will hold on to Cease," ESPN's Jeff Passan recently wrote.

At the Winter Meetings, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said the team received a number of calls regarding trades, but the Padres weren't ready to make a move.

“We definitely have a lot of things that we were able to do and could line up on,” Preller said. “We’ll see where it all takes us in the next couple weeks. … Even though we haven’t lined up on anything from a trade or free-agent standpoint, it’s been super active. Way further ahead from a knowledge standpoint today than we were when we got here on Sunday.”

While things may be active behind the scenes in San Diego, Padres fans are desperate for their team to make a move this offseason. The Padres are among five MLB teams that have not spent a single penny.

The Padres could certainly make trades before spring training begins, but Cease is likely too valuable a commodity to give up unless the Padres are blown away by an offer.

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