Dylan Cease doesn’t expect to be traded, but anything can happen.
Cease, who is preparing to begin his second season with San Diego, isn’t showing that the rumors are affecting him. He played it cool with the media, saying last week that he feels like there’s a “decent chance” he stays with the Padres, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
“But it’s baseball,” he added. “Anything can happen.”
Cease is coming off arguably the second-best season of his career, going 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA with 224 strikeouts in 189.1 innings pitched.
After pitching five seasons for the Chicago White Sox, Cease came to San Diego last March via a trade. The Padres and Cease avoided arbitration this past offseason by agreeing to a one-year, $13.75 million contract.
This will be his final season of team control, which could lower his trade value if the Padres are open to dealing him. On the other hand, the Yankees have lost ace Gerrit Cole for the entire season due to Tommy John surgery and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil for at least the first few months of 2025. They may be desperate.
Cease isn’t the only Padres pitcher to find himself at the center of trade rumors over the past few months. Michael King, ironically a former Yankee who came to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade, was also a possible trade candidate.
And as the Padres aren’t terribly likely to move any significant contributor before the start of the season, they have named King their Opening Day starter. King knows first-hand the unpredictable nature of baseball and echoed Cease’s sentiments.
“I would be shocked [if I’m traded]I but I guess anything can happen,” King said in an interview 97.3 The Fan. “I didn’t think I was going to be traded over here that offseason last year. I know that the baseball world is crazy so you don’t want to make those plans and the baseball gods are going to tell you something different.”
King was electric for the Padres last year, striking out 201 batters over 173.2 innings and 30 starts. He also finished with a 2.95 ERA and 1.192 WHIP. It was the first year of his career in which he started more than nine games.
