Philadelphia Phillies Linked to Star Pitcher Once Again in Trade Market

With questions surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies about what they're going to do this offseason, they have continued to be linked as a possible suitor for a star pitcher who is now available for trade.

There's a lot of speculation about what the Philadelphia Phillies will do this offseason.

Dave Dombrowski repeatedly said their goal was to re-sign Aaron Nola despite thinking that it might be difficult to accomplish.

Well, the front office got the job done after getting Nola back into the mix for the Phillies after they agreed to a new contract.

However, don't rule out Dombrowski continuing to be aggressive this offseason and add another pitcher that they've been repeatedly linked to. 

MLB Trade Rumors has put them as a destination for Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease now that he has seemingly been made available. It's likely that the White Sox are looking for top prospects in return now that they are starting a rebuild.

Philadelphia's pipeline has improved drastically in the past few years after consistently ranking towards the bottom in the league. How much of their elite talent they'd be willing to give up for Cease is unknown.

Nick Deeds of MLBTR notes the challenges that could be present for both clubs when attempting to get a deal done.

"The Phillies are in need of a top-of-the-rotation arm after the departure of Nola in free agency, but re-signing him appears to be the club’s top priority this offseason. That makes Philadelphia attempting to swing a deal for Cease fairly unlikely, particularly given the club’s relative lack of big-league ready prospect talent with whom they could attempt to make a trade," he writes.

Still, if the front office thinks they can get the AL Cy Young runner-up from 2022 onto their roster, they have shown an ability to be aggressive in making that happen.

The Cease situation is one to monitor closely as the Phillies look for additional starting pitching.