Ranking the 3 frontline starters the SF Giants should target on the trade market

Ranking the 3 frontline starters the SF Giants should target on the trade market

3. Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease

Team control holds a lot of value to teams, which makes Dylan Cease one of the more valuable trade assets in baseball. The Chicago White Sox are coming off of a disastrous 2023 campaign in which they only won 61 games.

They cleaned house in the front office. Former infielder Chris Getz is the team's new general manager and he likely recognizes the need to go through a rebuild. One quick way to jumpstart a rebuild is to trade Cease, who has two years of team control remaining.

The righty pitcher is coming off of a subpar season in which he posted a 4.58 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.41 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, and a 2.71 SO/W ratio. The FIP suggests that he pitched better than his ERA would indicate, which is not too terribly surprising for a White Sox defense that was worth -18 Outs Above Average last year.

With that being said, the 27-year-old has tallied a 3.83 ERA in parts of five seasons, so has a more favorable track record than his ERA in 2023 would suggest.

Cease's control leaves a bit to be desired, which might not make him much of a fit for the Giants. The Giants do like pitchers who attack the strike zone and Cease does so, but he issues a high number of walks as evidenced by his 4.0 career BB/9.

The White Sox are going to be looking for a considerable return given that they would be trading away two peak seasons of Cease. This probably makes him even less likely of a candidate for the Giants, but if they burn all of their other options, Cease would upgrade the rotation.