Nearly 10 Teams Have Shown Trade Interest in Padres' $108 Million Ace

Valentina Martinez | Mar 16, 2025

Mar 11, 2025; Peoria, Arizona, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres have one of the most popular players on the trade market this spring in Dylan Cease. Up to nine teams have inquired about the right-hander, including a handful of American League teams, per MLB insider Jon Heyman.

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The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets have also expressed interest in trading for Cease. While president of baseball operations A.J. Preller may be listening to clubs, his remarks after the signing of Nick Pivetta indicate the Padres plan on starting the season with Cease in the rotation.

"He's a very big part of our club," Preller told reporters includingMLB.com's AJ Cassavell."The additions the last couple days supplement what's a really good rotation. That's our focus here going forward — having that strong rotation."

The confirmed pieces of the Padres rotation include Cease, Pivetta, Michael King, and Yu Darvish. The Friars plan on opening the season with a five-man rotation and an eight-man bullpen, an indication the final spot of the rotation is still vacant.

A few candidates to be the Padres' fifth starter includes Kyle Hart, Stephen Kolek, and Randy Vásquez. Padres manager Mike Shildt recently gave an update on the spring competition.

"Kolek made his case the other day," Shildt said. "Hart's going to continue to get his opportunities. We're not as familiar with him, but we like what we've seen. Unfortunately for him, he's had a little bit of illness so that's set him back in his progression.

"Vásquez yesterday was really good on the back field in the Triple-A game. Five scoreless, everything looked good, velo was in a good spot."

Cease has been at the center of trade rumors for the majority of the offseason, and the speculation has not relented this spring. Given the right-hander is a candidate to be the Opening Day starter, it seems doubtful the Padres would deal Cease so close to the start of the season.

However, Preller is notorious for operating under the element of surprise so there is certainly a possibility Cease is traded.

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For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.