Dodgers Urged to Flip Young Pitchers in Blockbuster Dylan Cease Trade
The Los Angeles Dodgers have done more than any other team to improve their chances at a World Series championship in 2024, adding Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and several other high-profile players to their roster.
But who is to say when enough is enough? Writing for FanSided, Zachary Rotman urged the Dodgers to kick their high-octane offseason into overdrive by trading away some of their younger pitchers to acquire Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox.
“Adding Dylan Cease on top of everything else Los Angeles had done this offseason would be completely unfair, yet it’s exactly what (president of baseball operations) Andrew Friedman should be trying to do,” Rotman wrote. “Bobby Miller presumably wouldn’t be available, but guys like Emmet Sheehan, Nick Frasso, Gavin Stone and Kyle Hurt are just some of many pitchers the Dodgers can dangle in trade offers.”
Trading for Dylan Cease Gives the Dodgers Valuable Rotation Depth
In addition to Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani (who is expected to join the rotation in 2025 following a shoulder injury last season), the Dodgers also signed James Paxton and re-signed Clayton Kershaw, establishing the most fearsome rotation in MLB — if it can stay healthy.
That question mark is a big one, though, and trading for Cease would net a valuable insurance policy.
“Cease would be a huge addition in large part because of the question marks surrounding every pitcher they have,” noted Rotman. “Injury concerns revolving around guys like Glasnow, Paxton, Kershaw and Walker Buehler are very real. Adding a durable arm like Cease who has made at least 32 starts in each of the last three seasons would provide a huge boost.”
And Cease is not just durable; he’s effective. In 2022, he was the AL Cy Young runner up after pitching for 227 strikeouts, 14 wins and a 2.20 ERA. Last season, his ERA ballooned to a mediocre 4.58, but his stuff remained elite, as demonstrated by the MLB-leading number of “swords” he induced.
