White Sox Starter Makes Trade Sense for Texas Rangers

The Chicago White Sox are getting phone calls about their young starter, Dylan Cease, this offseason. Should the World Series champion Texas Rangers be in the mix?

The Texas Rangers might be wise to connect with the Chicago White Sox if they’re looking to trade for starting pitching help.

The New York Post reported on Thursday that the White Sox are getting calls about their right-hander, Dylan Cease, who was a highly-rumored arm to be moved at the trade deadline. But the White Sox hung onto him.

There was good reason for the White Sox to hang onto Cease. He has two controllable years left before he hits free agency and the White Sox can control costs.

The Chicago White Sox are reportedly fielding trade offers for starter Dylan Cease / © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

But Cease made more than $4 million in 2023 and in arbitration the expectation is is a bump to at least $8 million. The White Sox may be ready to move him to a team that can handle his remaining controllable years, as the White Sox lost 101 games last season.

The Rangers would be in a good position to trade for Cease. The World Series champions have one of the best organizations in baseball. Along with a shelf of top prospects at the minor-league level, headlined by outfielder Wyatt Langford, the Rangers also have a logjam of good, young players looking for playing time at the Major League level.

That list includes infielders Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith, and outfielder Evan Carter.

Cease has emerged as a quality right-hander who finished second in Cy Young voting in 2022 after going 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA. In 2023, he went 7-9 and his ERA went up to 4.58. But he has a solid track record for his career with a 43-35 record and a 3.83 ERA. He also strikes out 10.8 hitters per nine innings and led the American League in the category in 2021 (12.3).

If Cease were to join the Rangers, he would join Nathan Eovaldi, Max Scherzer, Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning. Because the Rangers would be trading for Cease, and his cost would be controlled, they could still pursue Jordan Montgomery or other free agents.

The question is whether the White Sox will budge?

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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