The San Diego Padres have reportedly been listening to trade offers for their ace, Dylan Cease, this offseason. Cease has been a top pitcher in the league for the last few years, but he’s on the final year of his contract.
Depending on how much money he asks for in free agency, the Padres may not be able to re-sign him, so trading him could make more sense.
Tim Britton of The Athletic recently predicted Cease would sign a massive deal worth $210 million in free agency next offseason. If this number is relatively close to his true value, which it seems like it will be, the Padres would be much better off trading him now than losing him in free agency.
The Padres have a lot of money wrapped up in superstars like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Xander Bogaerts. Because of this, it’s unlikely the Padres will be able to sign Cease or anybody else to a $200 million contract.
Instead of holding onto Cease and watching him walk away in free agency, the Padres could land a huge haul from a team like the Atlanta Braves or Baltimore Orioles.
Both of those teams have big league caliber prospects to send to San Diego in exchange for Cease. With the Orioles, the return would likely be very position-player heavy while the Braves could send prospects like AJ Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep to the Padres.
Either way, if the Padres have little to no chance at re-signing Cease, trading him makes the most sense.
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