The San Diego Padres are in a tough spot in the loaded National League West. They’re chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are one of the best teams in recent memory. To make matters worse, the Dodgers are only getting better over time.
Padres ace Dylan Cease is headed to free agency this winter, and the Padres likely don’t have the money to re-sign him. As a result, some of the big market teams around the league could get into a bidding war for the talented ace.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently predicted Cease would sign a massive 6-year, $168 million deal with the Boston Red Sox in free agency this winter.
“That’s quite the who’s who of starting pitchers right there, but let’s go one step further by noting Cease hasn’t even turned 30 yet, hitting that milestone this December,” Miller wrote. “And the only pitchers in the past 40 years to have at least five seasons of 210 or more strikeouts (consecutively or not) before the age of 30 are Kershaw (six), Hernández (six), Martínez (five), Sale (five), Roger Clemens (five) and Cease.
“So, he’s probably going to get paid quite handsomely, even after a 4.55 ERA campaign. And if it so happens to be the Boston Red Sox scooping him up and pairing him with Garrett Crochet (who led the majors with 255 strikeouts this past season), that could be a ‘Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling with the 2001-02 Arizona Diamondbacks’ type of preposterous combo.”
The Red Sox would be one of the better suitors for Cease this winter, but they could struggle to add talent to their lineup if they ink Cease to such a large contract.
Still, adding Cease next to Garrett Crochet at the top of the rotation in Boston would be massive. The Red Sox clearly needed to add pitching last season, and the hole on the roster has only gotten bigger.
Cease might have had a down year last season, but he would be a huge upgrade for the Red Sox. His ability to generate whiffs would play very well at Fenway Park.
