Chicago White Sox Agree to Terms With Ace Dylan Cease, Avoiding Arbitration

Dylan Cease's salary for 2024 came in slightly lower than expected, as the Chicago White Sox landed on an $8 million salary for their highly-coveted ace.

The Chicago White Sox and starting pitcher Dylan Cease have avoided arbitration by settling on a one-year deal, FanSided's Robert Murray reported Thursday afternoon.

Cease will make $8 million in 2024, per Murray, after making $5.7 million in 2023. MLB Trade Rumors initially projected Cease to make $8.8 million.

This was Cease's second-to-last year of arbitration eligibility. He will go through the same process next offseason and is set to hit free agency in 2026, barring an extension.

Sources: Dylan Cease, White Sox settle at $8 million, avoiding arbitration.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 11, 2024

Cease, who just turned 28 years old, has completed five seasons at the MLB level.

The right-hander improved his ERA, WHIP and WAR every year from 2019 to 2022, capping off that stretch with a second-place finish in AL Cy Young voting. Cease went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA, 1.109 WHIP, 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings and a league-best 6.4 WAR that year.

Cease's numbers came back down to Earth in 2023, however, as he finished the season just 7-89with a 4.58 ERA, 1.418 WHIP, 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 2.4 WAR.

Still, Cease has started 30-plus games in three consecutive seasons. His 97 starts since 2021 lead all of baseball, and his 3.54 ERA in that time ranks fourth among the 10 players with 94 or more starts.

For his career, Cease is 43-35 with a 3.83 ERA, 1.305 WHIP, 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a 11.7 WAR.

Cease has been at the center of trade rumors all offseason long, with the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees all being mentioned as potential suitors.

The deadline for teams to sign arbitration-eligible players was scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m., but they have until 8 p.m. to exchange proposed salary figures for a potential arbitration hearing.

Chicago also avoided arbitration with infielder Nicky Lopez ($4.3 million), first baseman Andrew Vaughn ($3.25 million), starting pitcher Michael Kopech ($3 million), starting pitcher Michael Soroka ($3 million), starting pitcher Touki Toussaint ($1.3 million) and reliever Garrett Crochet ($800K).

Check out Fastball's tracker of every contract announced on arbitration deadline day

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