Padres’ Dylan Cease price tag revealed. Are Mets willing to pay?
With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training on Wednesday, there remains the possibility of the Mets adding one more arm. The pitcher is San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease, who the Mets have been linked to for over a week.
On Thursday, Jon Heyman of The New York Post revealed what it would take for New York to get their ace.
“If the Mets are going to land Dylan Cease,” Heyman wrote, “Padres targets likely include Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams and Luisangel Acuña.”
At that price, given prior history, Cease is probably staying on the West Coast.
In December, the Mets were in pursuit of another ace, left-hander Garrett Crochet, who wound up being traded to the Boston Red Sox. New York didn’t land him because they would not give up both pitching prospect Brandon Sproat and shortstop/outfield prospect Jett Williams.
According to Baseball America, Williams and Sproat represent the team’s top two prospects.
If the Mets were unwilling to trade those prospects for Crochet, 25, they won’t do it for Cease, 29, who is a free agent at the end of the season.
Not to worry, the Mets’ front office stacked the pitching staff with depth and bullpen threats during the offseason. They’ll arrive at spring training with a decent six-man rotation:
- Sean Manaea, LHP
- Kodai Senga, RHP
- David Peterson, LHP
- Frankie Montas, RHP
- Clay Holmes, RHP
- Tylor Megill, RHP
And a bullpen that, on paper, looks like the envy of the sport, especially on the back end. That’s where closer Edwin Díaz will be set up by relievers like A.J. Minter, Ryne Stanek, Reed Garrett, and José Buttó, to name a few.
