MLB Insider: New York Mets Could Put Together Package of Prospects to Offer For Front-Line Pitcher

The San Diego Padres spent the offseason exploring potential trades for right-hander Dylan Cease, who’s due to be a free agent after the 2025 campaign, but didn’t make a deal.

And on Thursday, the day after the team signed free agent pitcher Nick Pivetta to a four-year, $55 million deal, general manager A.J. Preller sounded like a man very content with rolling out a starting rotation with a backbone of Cease, Pivetta, Yu Darvish and Michael King. Newly signed Kyle Hart, who won the Korea Baseball Organization equivalent of the Cy Young Award last year, also could be in the mix.

Preller on the Cease rumors, now that the Padres' rotation has been bolstered: "He's a very big part of our club. The additions the last couple days supplement what's a really good rotation. That's our focus here going forward -- having that strong rotation."
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) February 13, 2025

“He's a very big part of our club,” Preller said of Cease, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “The additions the last couple days supplement what's a really good rotation. That's our focus here going forward -- having that strong rotation."

But Preller didn’t say he wouldn’t entertain trading Cease at any point this season.

Enter the New York Mets.

MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Thursday night that the Mets could have just the right prospects to entice Preller into a trade.

“The Mets are one of the more consistent pursuers of star Padres right-hander Dylan Cease, and word is they have prospects who interest the Padres — if indeed San Diego decides to deal him,” Heyman wrote.

“The Padres are believed to like talented infielder , who played brilliantly upon his late-season call-up, plus, Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, among others. Sproat is the gem with his big arm, and Acuña’s value rose after that stunning late performance. McLean is a former two-way player with big stuff, and Tong is producing eye-popping numbers.”

https://t.co/aikBadFGjx. If Padres do have to trade Cease (their baseball people don’t want to), the Mets are well positioned with these four coveted prospects
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 14, 2025

New York acquired Acuna, the younger brother of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., in the July 30, 2023, trade that sent pitcher Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers.

Acuna, a middle infielder, made his MLB debut last Sept. 14. The 22-year-old played in 14 games, batting .308 with 12 hits, three home runs and six RBIs.

MLB Pipeline ranks the 24-year-old Sproat as the top prospect in the New York farm system at No. 46. The Mets selected him in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and in his one season in the minors, Sproat pitched at three minor league levels and finished 7-4 with a 3.40 ERA in 24 games (23 starts).

McLean, 23, was selected by the Mets in the third round of the 2023 draft out of Oklahoma State. Baseball America rates his as the No. 99 prospect in baseball.

Tong, a 21-year-old Canadian, is the nation’s No. 75 prospect, per Baseball Prospectus. Picked in the seventh round in the 2022 draft, Tong has a 6-6 record and 3.49 ERA in 35 appearances (31 starts) over two minor league seasons. He has struck out 198 over 134 innings.

The Mets and Padres don’t face each other this season until just before the trade deadline – July 28 through 30 at Citi Field. Whether Cease will still be in the Padres’ dugout remains to be seen.