Orioles, Dylan Cease Saga Finally Ends After He's Dealt to San Diego Padres

The Baltimore Orioles can finally put the Dylan Cease saga in their rearview after he was dealt to the San Diego Padres.

All offseason, the Baltimore Orioles had been connected to Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease as their possible target to address the hole at the top of their rotation.

It was a long, drawn out process that ultimately resulted in nothing because of the high asking price to land the star right-hander.

The Orioles were able to pivot and get Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers for a much cheaper deal that had them content with their starting unit.

But, with a concerning injury to Kyle Bradish and John Means behind schedule, there are two holes in their rotation to start the year.

The original report that Cease was back on the trading block mentioned a potential surprise suitor outside of the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers.

Baltimore was thought to potentially be that team based on the dialogue between the two sides all winter.

However, the Cease saga can finally be put to an end for the Orioles after Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the White Sox decided to trade him to the Padres.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network first revealed the top prospects being sent in the deal before Bob Nightengale of USA Today announced the entire package.

San Diego is giving up their reliever Steven Wilson and three of their top 10 prospects in pitchers Drew Thorpe (No. 5) and Jairo Iriarte (No. 8), plus outfielder Samuel Zavala (No. 7).

Baltimore had previously balked at Chicago's asking price and it seems like what was ultimately decided would have, once again, been too much for them to part with.

The Orioles are still going to be content with landing Burnes, but everything is going to hinge on how Bradish recovers from his injury, and how effective he'll be throughout the 2024 season.