SF Giants were reportedly not involved in former Chicago White Sox ace

The San Diego Padres swung a trade on Wednesday to acquire former Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease. The SF Giants checked in on Cease but did not have any recent conversations, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

SF Giants were reportedly not involved in former Chicago White Sox ace

The Padres sent over three of the organization's top prospects in Drew Thorpe, Samuel Zavala, and Jairo Iriarte as well as reliever Steven Wilson. Cease will anchor the front of San Diego's rotation along with Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove.

This is a move that the Giants could have matched. That said, Padres general manager A.J. Preller is well known for blowing the competition out of the water to get a trade done. The Padres typically make the high-profile moves, but it is usually at a steep cost in terms of prospect capital.

Pavlovic's report is in contrast to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman reported that the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals were among the other teams in on Cease. That report does not seem incorrect, but it did slightly suggest that San Francisco was the runner-up for the 28-year-old pitcher. Both Heyman and Pavlovic confirmed the Giants' interest in Cease, but the latter reiterated that conversations had not been recent.

Of course, it is easy to see why the Giants would be interested in the right-handed hurler in the first place. He has registered a 3.83 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 10.8 WHIP, and a 2.69 SO/W ratio in five seasons with the White Sox. Though, he is coming off of a year in which he tallied a 4.58 ERA in 33 starts.

Part of Cease's appeal is that he is under team control through the 2025 season. He is set to earn $8 million in 2024.

On the other hand, the Giants are going to start the year with an inexperienced rotation that consists of Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, Keaton Winn and a yet-to-be-determined fifth starter. Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray will rejoin the rotation at some point with Cobb progressing well from offseason hip surgery. Webb is the only established starter from the Opening Day group, so it is fair to say that the Giants could use more experience.

As things currently stand, that experience will come from veterans returning from injury. The Giants hope that their young pitchers can bridge the gap until then.