Dylan Cease rumors: Ranking 5 trade suitors as offseason slows to a crawl

2) If the Red Sox won't spend on a frontline starter, they should trade for Dylan Cease

The Boston Red Sox have infuriated their fan base by refusing to spend money the way most big market teams do. They've finished in last place in the American League East in back-to-back seasons and three times in the last four overall, yet they've shown absolutely no urgency to turn things around. Red Sox fans have every right to be furious about that.

Boston entered the offseason with a glaring need to upgrade their rotation. We're here in mid-February, and it can be argued that the rotation looks worse now than it was last season. Lucas Giolito will more likely than not give Boston more innings than Chris Sale would have, but we have to wonder how quality Giolito's innings will be, when his ERA has hovered around 5.00 in each of the last two seasons.

If the Red Sox are unwilling to splurge on pitchers like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, the trade market is something they should strongly consider. If this Red Sox team acquires Cease, a legitimate ace, they can at the very least be in the race for an AL Wild Card spot.

Boston happens to have a slew of prospects they can trade. They've shown no willingness to move guys like Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel (and for good reason), but the Red Sox do have four prospects on MLB Pipeline's top 100 list, as well as other young players like Jarren Duran who the White Sox could be interested in.