Longtime Dodgers Trade Target Dylan Cease Heading to NL West Rival Padres

The San Diego Padres are close to finalizing a deal that will bring in Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Cease has long been a rumored trade target of the Dodgers, but he will instead go to the National League West rival Padres a week before the teams meet in Korea for the Seoul Series.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports multiple big name prospects are heading back to the White Sox for Cease.

This trade comes less than 24 hours after reports circulated that the White Sox were extensively scouting the Padres this spring. Just a day before the Padres left for Korea, the sides reached an agreement to send the 28-year-old to San Diego.

Earlier this offseason, it was reported that the Dodgers tried to acquire Cease in a package centered around Michael Busch. However, no trade came to fruition, and the Dodgers ended up sending Busch to the Chicago Cubs.

Cease is 28 years old and has two years of team control. He’s coming off a rough 2023 season in which he had a 4.58 ERA across 33 starts. However, in 2022, he had a 2.20 ERA in 32 starts and finished second in American League Cy Young voting.

Cease will shore up a rotation that had tons of question marks, and give the Padres a fearsome three-headed monster of Cease, Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish.

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