Dylan Cease rumors: The best prospect all 5 potential suitors should be willing to trade

1) The Red Sox should be willing to trade Ceddanne Rafaela in a Dylan Cease trade

The Boston Red Sox are yet another team in dire need of starting pitching. Yes, they signed Lucas Giolito, but they also traded Chris Sale to fill another need. Their rotations is one of the worst in the American League. Adding Dylan Cease to the fold could fix that.

The Red Sox should be major players in free agency for pitchers like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery but are acting as if they don't have money to spend. Trading for Dylan Cease will hurt when it comes to prospect capital, but considering the fact that he's projected to make just $8.3 million in arbitration, they wouldn't have to spend much money for top-tier production.

When it comes to prospects, the Red Sox are very well-stocked. Marcelo Mayer is their best prospect and one of the best prospects in the majors. For only two years of Cease, he probably shouldn't be available. The same can be said about emerging prospect Roman Anthony. A player Boston should be more than fine giving up is Ceddane Rafaela, their third-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline.

Rafaela is a player who debuted for the Red Sox this past season and appears to be MLB-ready but doesn't really have a spot in Beantown right now. He's primarily a middle infielder, but Trevor Story and Vaughn Grissom are entrenched at shortstop and second base respectively. He's played the outfield as well, but with players like Jarren Duran, Tyler O'Neill, Wilyer Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida, the Red Sox have a ton of young talent there already.

Since he doesn't have a spot locked in, the Red Sox can trade him for a player they could really use like Cease. It won't feel great, but adding Cease can help Boston get more competitive in a really tough AL East.