Free agency is slow, the QO is lurking, and trades are tempting. Somehow, that all circles back to Cease.
The Padres didn’t just lose Dylan Cease when he took that seven-year, $210 million deal to Toronto. They may have lost the version of this offseason where starting pitching was going to come with anything resembling a reasonable price tag.
Here’s the ugly little ripple effect: Cease’s contract didn’t simply remove a top arm from the board — it helped re-anchor the market.