"Teams don’t seem to have interest in paying that price" - NL executive believes high asking price from the White Sox will keep Dylan Cease in Chicago

As Spring Training inches closer and teams are lining up their rosters, a few names like Dylan Cease are still on the trade market seemingly without much interest. The pitching market saw some pace in the last couple of weeks, but many players who were supposed to be traded are still with their respective teams.

According to MLB.com, an NL executive said that teams are not willing to pay the price the White Sox are asking for Cease:

“I would say Cease doesn’t get moved at this point,” an NL executive said. “The White Sox are not budging on price, and teams don’t seem to have interest in paying that price.”

Apart from Cease, even trade target Shan Beiber hasn't been moved this offseason and it seems like he will play the upcoming season with the Cleveland Guardians.

The Miami Marlins are reportedly open to trades involving Jesús Luzardo and Edward Cabrera, with a focus on Cease and Bieber during the offseason.

One NL executive mentioned that the main reason trade targets aren't moving fast is that some teams still have cash to spend on free agents and then they'll move on to the trade market:

“There are still a lot of teams with some cash to spend,” another NL executive said. “I think they’ll work hard to sign guys without trading away talent, and then if that doesn’t work, they’ll probably shift back to the trade market.”

Dylan Cease's 2023 season

Dylan Cease struggled in the 2023 season, pitching 177 innings for a 4.58 ERA as opposed to his 2022 season, where he put up a 2.20 ERA in 184 innings.

In his five seasons with the Chicago White Sox, he has 43 wins, 35 losses and an ERA of 3.83 with 792 strikeouts.

With the White Sox offloading its experience for young assets, Cease was expected to be moved ahead of 2024 Spring Training, but it seems the asking price isn't too enticing for MLB teams to pay for his services.