Copyright Newsweek
The San Diego Padres are in a very tough spot right now. They're one of the best teams in baseball, but their payroll is loaded with the talent they already have. As a result, they're not able to keep up with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers in the biggest free agency sweepstakes of the offseason. This winter, the Padres could lose starting pitcher Dylan Cease as a result. NBC Sports' Matthew Pouliot recently projected Cease would sign a massive seven-year, $210 million deal in free agency this winter. "Cease’s ERAs are all over the place, but the underlying stats have been remarkably stable over the last five years, with only a modest blip as his velocity dipped some in 2023," Pouliot wrote. "While he wound up 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA for the Padres in his walk year, his strikeout rate held steady at 30% and he had a 3.46 xERA and a 3.58 SIERA. "Teams will also be enthralled by his durability; he’s never missed a start since debuting in mid-2019. It’s still entirely possible that he has a year or two of Cy Young contention in his future." Cease is bound to have more than a handful of suitors in free agency. He's one of the top pitchers on the market, so a bidding war could top $200 million with ease. Teams like the Padres, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and San Francisco Giants should be expected to pursue Cease this winter.
