Dylan Cease has been one of the hottest free agent discussions of the offseason, and rightfully so. He’s sitting at a career 3.83 ERA, has a second-place Cy Young finish, and usually finishes in the top 5-10 in terms of strikeouts. That slider sure is nasty. White Sox GM, Chris Getz, however, has not found a trade that is enough to justify giving up one of the top pitchers in the league. Recently, trade talks between the White Sox and Yankees have begun to heat up, but as of now, we still have no deal.

Earlier this week, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale also reported that New York is still working to bolster their starting rotation alongside Gerrit Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortés, and newly acquired Marcus Stroman – especially since the latter three all struggled with injuries last year, and Dylan Cease is still in his prime at 28 years old. While the Yankees could make a splash and add two Cy Young winners to their pitching staff, as Blake Snell is still available. They are looking for a cheaper option that will still make them competitive in a tough AL East division and to not go over the Competitive Balance Tax.

There have been several “mock trades” floating around, and even the Baseball Trade Values website has featured a trade between these teams on its homepage for the past week.

Naturally, I had to dig into this trade a bit.

The Trade:

 Baseball Trade Values

There seems to be a positive reaction to this trade for Yankees fans, but White Sox fans are likely more wary of a (potentially risky) prospect-heavy trade without a near-MLB-ready player, myself included.

Nightingale also notes in his article that the White Sox are not entertaining a deal that doesn’t include the Yankees’ top prospect, outfielder Spencer Jones. As you’d expect, the Yankees aren’t keen on sending Jones to the South Side, essentially gambling that Cease performs to the level he did in 2022. The good news for us Sox fans is that Chris Getz seems to be pretty firm on what the return would need to be for a trade to work out.

And there’s certainly a reason why the Yankees don’t want to let Spencer Jones go – especially after blasting a home run in his first Spring Training at-bat. And he’s been on fire over the first three games. In seven at-bats, he’s gotten five hits (including the home run), walked once, and struck out just one time, with a strong .714/.778/1.143 slash line. Sure, it’s only seven at-bats in Spring Training, but at 6´6´´ with that kind of power? It’s almost Aaron Judge level but as a lefty who can also steal 40 bases in a year.

The Players:

Now, if the Yankees aren’t going to dish out Jones, let’s see some other options presented in the above hypothetical trade:

Roderick Arias – Shortstop

Roderick Arias, another of the top Yankees’ prospects – listed as the fourth-best NYY prospect on FanGraphs – is the highest-rated piece of this mock trade. He was signed from the international draft in 2022 as an 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic. While he struggled his first year in the DSL, he greatly improved in 2023, slashing .267/.423/.505 with six homers and 26 RBIs across 27 games in the FCL. He certainly shows a lot of promise, but his injury struggles in his first two seasons caused him to be sidelined quite a bit, not yet playing a full season in the minors.

For me, when I read about his injuries, alarm bells immediately started going off given how prevalent injuries have been for the White Sox over the last several years. Still, it doesn’t sound like they were anything too concerning. Another thing that Chicago would need to consider would be that Colson Montgomery is currently slated to be the South Side starting shortstop within the next couple of years, which begs the question: “How does Arias fit into this equation?” Could he potentially shift over to 2B and finally solve that problem? Of course, this would be several years down the line, and also might not even be an option, but I’ll never stop dreaming of a full-time, quality starting second baseman.

Everson Pereira – Outfielder

Everson Pereira was a player who had been called up to the big leagues during the final weeks of last season after the Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention, and as our friends over at Pinstripe Alley had quoted … his small sample size of 27 games was “unappetizing at best.” Woof.

In his short stint after being called up, Pereira’s slash line was nothing to write home about at .151/.233/.194 while also striking out at a brutal 43% clip. His performance in the minors, however, was much more impressive. He began the season in Double-A, where he played the majority of his games, achieving a .907 OPS, before being promoted to Triple-A, where his batting average increased alongside his .937 OPS. He played 11 games less in Triple-A, but he hit nearly the same amount of home runs (eight compared to 10 in Double-A) and certainly proved that he can play at a higher level.

Does Pereira show promise that he can work through his high strikeout rate while adjusting to MLB pitching? Because at this point, the last thing the White Sox need would be another outfielder floating up and down to Triple-A all season like Danny Mendick in 2022.

Clayton Beeter – Starting Pitcher

Beeter is a 25-year-old righthander drafted in 2020 and has so far only pitched in the Minor Leagues. In 131 ⅔ innings in 2023, he started 26 of his 27 games where he achieved an overall 3.62 ERA spanning across both Double and Triple-A. He struggled a bit more with the enhanced competition in Triple-A, earning a 4.94 ERA compared to 2.08 in Double-A, however, he also struck out 13 more batters in Triple-A, showing that he certainly can get players to swing and miss at an efficient rate. As a young player, there’s time to develop him, and he’s already seen a near ~3 mph increase on his fastball, averaging closer to 96 compared to 93 last year.

Ben Rice – Catcher / First Base

Ben Rice is a somewhat interesting piece of this trade, except for the fact that the White Sox likely do not need another 1B/DH type. The difference maker here is that Ben Rice is a lefty power bat that tends to not strike out a lot – something the Sox could certainly use. In 48 Double-A games, he mashed 16 homers and posted a highly efficient 1.049 OPS. This kind of production from a catcher would be unheard of from the White Sox since Yasmani Grandal went off in 2021.

Rice is expected to start the majority of the year in Triple-A, so he could be ready for the big leagues within a few years. For the South Siders, outside of Edgar Quero, there isn’t much promise for catchers within the White Sox farm system, especially since Korey Lee struggled to make strong contact when he was called up in 2023.

Now, all that being said – do the White Sox make this deal? Although some of these players are exciting and show potential to be great, I say no. The White Sox aren’t competing this year, so it makes sense to sell on Cease while he is high if the South Siders want to compete in coming years, but there’s no need to deal Cease away without getting as much as you can for him. Teams that are fighting for the playoffs might be a little more desperate in June and July where Chris Getz can get more bang for his buck if the situation presents itself.

Also, I REALLY don’t want him to go to the Yankees. The mustache is a necessity.

Other teams still need a pitcher that could potentially swoop in before the season begins. Dylan Cease’s contract is only $8 million in 2024, and some teams will be more than willing to spend that money – but are they willing to part ways with top-rated prospects to make that happen?

Let us know what you think! Would you make this trade?