Yankees Will Not Trade Spencer Jones for Dylan Cease

According to an ESPN insider, one of the Bronx Bombers' prospects is off-limits in trade talks.

The New York Yankees may be desperate, but not that desperate.

As the team nervously awaits second opinions on ace Gerrit Cole's MRI results, the Yankees had re-entered trade talks with the Chicago White Sox for right-hander Dylan Cease. Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports confirmed that the Yankees even made a new proposal for the White Sox's ace, but just like before, they refused to offer prized outfield prospect Spencer Jones.

The Yankees, while awaiting news on Gerrit Cole, have re-engaged with the Chicago White Sox and made a new proposal for ace Dylan Cease, but the new offer once again did not include prized outfield prospect Spencer Jones.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 12, 2024

The writing appears to be on the wall that the only way the Yankees can get a deal done for Cease is if they include Jones in the package heading to Chicago. However, an ESPN reporter further reinforced the Bronx Bombers' refusal to give him up.

STAGGERING numbers behind Gerrit Cole’s durability, and how the Yankees might pivot with his elbow ailing👇 pic.twitter.com/37QJSylNci

— Paul Hembekides (Hembo) (@PaulHembo) March 13, 2024

"He's not trading Spencer Jones," Buster Olney said on ESPN's Baseball Tonight podcast. "If he [Brian Cashman] has a guy he thinks is an elite prospect, he basically builds a moat around that guy. He's like, 'Forget it. You can talk about other players, we're not talking about that guy.'"

A recent report from Yankees beat writer Erik Boland revealed that the White Sox have also looked at other Yankee prospects in addition to Jones; however, the Yankees had already given up a haul of pitching prospects in the Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto trades earlier this offseason, and as such would be hesitant to give up Will Warren, Chase Hampton, or Clayton Beeter in a trade.

When the Yankees & White Sox had serious talks a while back regarding Cease, among the players CHI asked for were: Warren, Hampton, Peraza, Beeter & Pereira. As of today, the White Sox haven't had any extra scouts on the Yankees other than those involved in regular ST coverage

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) March 13, 2024

This report also indicates that the Yankees would rather go after Blake Snell in free agency, as they wouldn't have to sacrifice their exciting outfielder to get him. Unfortunately, a Snell signing is also a pipe dream, as the Yankees are not only subject to a 110% luxury tax penalty to any contract (with Snell's likely to have an extremely high AAV as well), but they will also lose draft capital and international free agent money.

As of now, a trade for Cease isn't a desperate need for the Yankees; on Wednesday, it was reported that Cole has seemingly avoided the worst-case scenario, although he will still miss a month or two at minimum.