Joe Tansey of Bleacher Report anticipated that San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease will leave for the Baltimore Orioles in the summer.
Cease’s contract with the Padres is set to expire at the end of the postseason, and he will be free to look for another team. Cease’s name surfaced in trade discussions around the trade deadline, indicating that the Padres do not particularly want to keep the right-hander.
“Cease’s stock is okay at the moment, but it could skyrocket with a strong postseason for the Padres,” Tansey said.
“He doesn’t have a lot of playoff experience, but if he has a few big games for the Padres, he may be considered as a stronger option than Valdez by certain clubs.
“Baltimore stands out as a possible landing spot because it needs one veteran hurler to pair with its young core.”
Cease had a pair of appearances to cap off his stint in San Diego, pitching five one-run innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on September 24 before completing his third shutout effort of the season against the Cubs in the Padres’ Game 2 Wild Card series triumph.
Despite some regular-season inconsistency from Cease, the 29-year-old’s most important aspect of his game emerged this season: the strikeout. Cease recorded 200 strikeouts for the fifth straight season, and his 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings lead MLB this season.
“I love San Diego a lot,” Cease remarked after the Cubs defeated the Padres in the Wild Card Series. “I haven’t given much thought to free agency. It’s a unique organization. I believe that is the most unusual configuration. You have an entire city — and it’s a large one — and it’s all about baseball. The fans have been really nice to us. We sell out every game. It’s been a pretty exciting experience.”
With Cease preparing to leave in the offseason, the Padres must address their starting rotation before next season. Along with Cease, Michael King is expected to opt out of his contract to pursue free agency, and Nestor Cortes will also enter the market.
After Joe Musgrove’s comeback from Tommy John surgery, they still need to acquire two players to assure they have a solid five-man rotation for Opening Day.