Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The Atlanta Braves will surely be buying on the trade market to boost their World Series contention, but some Braves trade targets aren’t worth it.
What do you do in MLB when you’re already rich? Particularly when it comes to the trade deadline, you look to get richer. And while we’re just over a month into the season, that’s a position the Atlanta Braves will find themselves in come July.
After starting the year 24-11 entering a series against the Red Sox, the Braves have already built up a seven-game lead in the NL East. But this club isn’t just looking to win its division again but, rather, to win the franchise’s second World Series in the last three years. As such, they will surely be buying at the trade deadline.
We’ve seen general manager Alex Anthopolous work magic with trades for the likes of Jorge Soler, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy and more. Put simply, he’s not in the business of making bad deals for the Braves. Having said that, they do need to be sure to target the right players — which means knowing which possible targets to avoid.
Taking that into account, these three possible Braves trade targets need to be avoided — but the last one would absolutely be worth the risk.
Braves rumors: Dylan Cease is a stud, but far too expensive for Atlanta’s needs
Just a year ago, Dylan Cease finished the season second in AL Cy Young voting after breaking out as a certified ace for the Chicago White Sox. He still has that in him, without question. But for a White Sox team that has started 12-24 on the season, he might be the club’s biggest trade asset to move on from if they look to start a pseudo rebuild.
Cease’s numbers this year are not all that impressive right now as he’s posted only a 5.58 ERA and 1.51 WHIP on the season. Moreover, despite having eight starts when the majority of the Chicago pitching staff has started a maximum of seven, he doesn’t lead the team in strikeouts. But the 27-year-old is just one year removed from a 14-8 record with a 2.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP while striking out 227 batters over 184 innings.
The Braves could very well look to bolster the pitching staff given injuries to Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson and more that have depleted the deepest part of the organization right now. Cease, however, is not the answer.
Even in the bad spot that the White Sox are in, they are going to demand a ton in return to trade for Dylan Cease. He’s still under club control for a couple more seasons and, again, has proven to be a Cy Young candidate. The Braves need back-end depth in the rotation, not an ace. So paying the cost to get Cease simply would not be worth it in the long run.