Two potential Braves trade targets from the White Sox

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Brewers aren’t the only team listening to offers on most of their top players as they appear to be heading toward a rebuild of sorts. The Chicago White Sox are also listening to trade offers on virtually everyone, including Dylan Cease.

“Brewers general manager Matt Arnold declined comment on the team’s plans,” Rosenthal writes for The Athletic. “But at least one other club, the Chicago White Sox, is willing to consider anything and everything. First-year GM Chris Getz, speaking to reporters Tuesday, said he was “open for business,” willing to entertain trade offers for right-hander Dylan Cease, left fielder Eloy Jiménez and others.”

 

Dylan Cease

Aces with multiple years of control don’t hit the market that often. If the White Sox have changed their tune since this year’s trade deadline, every competing team will be inquiring about the price it will take to pry Dylan Cease away from Chicago.

Cease is coming off one of his worst seasons, posting a 4.58 ERA over 33 starts, but that seems to be the case with a lot of people still stuck in the White Sox organization. In 2022, he finished second in the NL Cy Young race, posting a 2.20 ERA and 11.1 K/9. He features some of the nastiest pure stuff in baseball and is extremely durable, recording 32+ starts in each of the last three seasons with a combined ERA of 3.54 and a FIP of 3.40.

The asking price for Dylan Cease will be remarkably high, but that doesn’t mean the Braves couldn’t potentially get a deal done. They might just have to get creative. Adding him to the rotation would undoubtedly give the Braves the filthiest 1-4 in the game. All the rotation concerns of year’s past would be put to bed in an instant.

Eloy Jimenez

By this point in his career, Eloy Jimenez was supposed to be a superstar. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year race in 2019 and followed it up by winning a Silver Slugger during the shortened 2020 campaign. However, injuries have plagued him ever since. Jimenez played in just 55 games in 2021 and followed it up by playing 84 games in 2022. The 120 games he played this year were the most since his rookie campaign when he played 122.

Acquiring Jimenez would be all about upside, but I’m not quite sure he would even be an upgrade over Eddie Rosario, and he’s owed $13 million next season with a $16.5 million club option for 2025 and an $18.5 million club option for 2026, which both come with $3 million buyouts. That’s a risky proposition. The Braves would have to firmly believe they could help Jimenez reach his full position to even consider trading for him.