Padres' Dylan Cease Reportedly Interests Yankees, Red Sox, More amid MLB Trade Rumors

Despite sitting in the third wild-card spot in the National League, the San Diego Padres are at least willing to listen to offers Dylan Cease prior to the July 31 trade deadline.

Per ESPN's Buster Olney, the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and the contending teams in the AL East are among the clubs that have entertained adding Cease.

Additionally, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Wednesday that the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are among the teams believed to have checked in on Cease.

Trading Cease would be an odd move for a contending team, though Olney did note the Padres' intent would be to fill other roster needs on the big-league team if they were to deal him.

There are valid arguments for the Padres to take this approach. Cease, who is set to become a free agent after the season, could fetch a nice return given how dire the market for starting pitching looks right now.

Going by ESPN's ranking of the top 50 trade deadline candidates, Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins is the No. 1 pitcher on the board. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner currently has a 7.14 ERA in 19 starts this season.

Kansas City Royals teammates Seth Lugo and Kris Bubic are the only other starters in the top 10 on the list. Bubic would bring back an enormous haul given his age (27), having one more year of team control and being an All-Star this season.

Another reason for the Padres to at least entertain offers for Cease is they have succeeded this season without him pitching up to his usual standard. The right-hander's 4.64 ERA is his highest since his rookie year in 2019 (5.79), though he's still one of the best strikeout artists in MLB with 139 in 108.2 innings.

The Mets and Cubs figure to be two of the most active teams over the next week in searching for pitching help. David Peterson and Clay Holmes are the only Mets starters with more than 100 innings pitched this season.

The Cubs rank fifth in the NL with a 3.88 ERA. Three of the four teams above them would make the playoffs based on the current standings (Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers).

There's also pressure being applied to the Cubs thanks to the red-hot Brewers, whose 11-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday. The two NL Central teams are tied for first place in the division and the best record in the NL (60-41) entering play on Wednesday.