The Cleveland Guardians are coming off a fantastic season in which they came within one step of making their first World Series appearance since 2016.
Cleveland is still fiddling with its rotation as it looks to build on the success of 2024, re-signing former staff ace Shane Bieber while saying goodbye to Alex Cobb and Matthew Boyd. The Guardians have numerous talented young arms in the rotation to compensate for the attrition until Bieber returns from Tommy John surgery and is able to rejoin the rotation.
However, Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report forecasts a more significant move for Cleveland: trading for San Diego Padres staff ace Dylan Cease.
After missing the World Series, the Padres are apparently
Looking at reducing the organization’s planned $215 million salary for next season. According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the team is considering trading Cease.
San Diego rescued Cease from the struggling Chicago White Sox during Spring Training last season, trading four of the organization’s top prospects (Steven Wilson, Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, and Samuel Zavala) for the 28-year-old pitcher.
Cease finished fourth in the National League Cy Young votes in 2024, finishing 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA and 224 strikeouts for the Friars.
According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, San Diego is “exploring” Cease’s trade value as it competes for Japanese pitching star Rori Sasaki. A move for Cease would imply that the Guardians are going all in on 2025, hoping to end the organization’s 75-season title drought.
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