Dylan Cease Trade Talks Intensify: Braves In The Mix

The Dylan Cease trade rumors have heated up again and another team has reportedly entered the mix. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale the Atlanta Braves have joined the Dodgers as one of “several” teams engaged in trade talks with the Chicago White Sox for Dylan Cease. 

This report comes nine days after Nightingale reported that the Dodgers were in trade talks with the White Sox for Cease. This is good news for the White Sox. The Dodgers are in desperate need of starting pitching and the Braves are one of their biggest roadblocks in the National League which could prompt a bidding war between the two clubs. 

The White Sox and Braves pairing makes sense. The White Sox recently made a deal that sent Aaron Bummer to Atlanta in exchange for five players. Cease was also born in Milton, Georgia, less than an hour from Atlanta. He still resides in Georgia and would likely welcome a trade to his home state.  

The Braves also need to bolster their rotation and two of their targets in Aaron Nola and Sunny Gray are off the board. Currently, the rotation is made up of Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Charlie Mortron and Bryce Elder. The fifth spot in the rotation is still up for grabs. The Braves recently signed ex-White Sox pitcher Reynaldo Lopez and told him to prepare as a starter this offseason despite the fact he spent the entire 2023 season in the bullpen.

Max Fried will be a free agent at the end of the year so the Braves would like to try and add an arm to a multi-year deal for some added insurance if Fried takes his talents elsewhere. Cease still has two years of control remaining.  However, given that Cease is a Scott Boras client signing him to a long-term deal will be tougher for the Braves front office who will likely have to open their checkbooks to keep him long-term. 

But adding the soon-to-be 28-year-old to the mix would provide them with some much-needed depth. The 2022 Cy Young runner-up is coming off a down season in which he posted a 4.58 ERA. However, he is just one year removed from a 2.20 ERA and a career-high 227 strikeouts. Cease has ranked inside the MLB’s top ten in strikeouts in each of the last three seasons.  Those bat-missing capabilities give him trade value regardless of the down season. 

Pairing him with the Braves ace Strider would be a nightmare for AL East hitters. Strider led the MLB with 281 strikeouts last season while Cease finished eighth with 214 punchouts. But for the Braves to get a deal done they are going to have to outbid the Dodgers, who have a much deeper farm system. MLB Pipelines mid-season rankings had the Braves ranked as the 27th farm system in the MLB. 

Unlike the Aaron Bummer trade, where the Braves sent the White Sox scraps and castoffs, they will have to give up something of value. Don’t be surprised if that means some players on their current MLB roster are included in the deal. 

Their top prospect is right-handed pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver. He is the No. 57 prospect in the MLB Pipelines rankings and the only Top-100 prospect in the Braves system. A Cease trade would almost certainly have to include Smith-Shawver. Smith-Shawver will enter the 2024 season competing for the final spot in the Braves rotation.

He pitched in six games for the Braves last season which included five starts. He faired well in his first taste of big-league action, holding opponents to a .183 batting average. In 25.1 innings of work, he posted a 4.26 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks. He has an electric fastball thanks in part to his background as a quarterback and used to play football with Bobby Witt Jr. 

Smith-Shawver seems like exactly the type of player that Chris Getz would like to piece into the White Sox rotation as they try to retool.