White Sox GM's latest comments hint at zero urgency to move Dylan Cease

The 2024 season is going to be a rough one for the Chicago White Sox. They were one of baseball's most disappointing teams in 2023, winning just 61 games, and have done little this offseason to suggest they'll be much better in 2024.

With a rebuild taking place, the White Sox, understandably, placed their ace, Dylan Cease, on the trade block. New GM Chris Getz made it abundantly clear that Cease was available to be had in a trade, but his price would have to be met.

The upside Cease has is at a level most pitchers can't meet. He showed that in the 2022 season when he finished second to Justin Verlander in the AL Cy Young balloting. He had a down year in 2023 but atrocious White Sox defense aided that, and he still made 33 starts and ranked fifth in the AL with 214 strikeouts.

Despite Cease's known availability, he has not been traded. With what Getz just said to reporters, there's a good chance a trade won't be happening anytime soon.

White Sox playing dangerous game by holding onto Dylan Cease

Earlier this offseason it felt like Cease was more likely to be traded than any starting pitcher, but while guys like Tyler Glasnow and Corbin Burnes have changed uniforms, Cease remains in Chicago. With Getz saying to reporters "At this point, Dylan Cease, I expect him to be our Opening Day starter," there's a good chance he will be staying put.

Cease staying can be seen as both good and bad. From an overall standpoint, it's a pretty big risk for a White Sox team that has no reason to be taking one.

The White Sox are essentially banking on Cease to be both healthy and pitch well and for desperate teams to then match their asking price for him at the trade deadline. Expecting Cease to stay healthy is fine considering the fact that he's made at least 32 starts in each of the last three seasons, but with any injury his value is completely gone. That's a risk, even if it's not a clear one.

If Cease pitches poorly again, will teams be willing to offer as much as they were over the offseason? Even if Cease pitches to his potential, are teams really going to offer much more than they were this offseason when half a season of control is removed?

We don't know what the offers are for Cease as of now. If they're truly underwhelming, it makes sense for the White Sox to sit on their hands. However, with Corbin Burnes going for what he went for, they should have a pretty good idea of what Cease is realistically worth. Sure, he should fetch a bit more than Burnes because of the extra year of control, but Burnes being a better pitcher than him has to mean something, right?

With the White Sox not planning on being competitive, holding onto Cease even with the extra year of control doesn't make much sense. More likely than not, his value is going to go down rather than up.

Things can always change with one offer. They seemed to have changed with Burnes and the Brewers when nobody expected. As of now, though, it looks like Cease will be taking the ball when the White Sox face the Tigers on Opening Day.