NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Born in Milton, Dylan Cease attended Milton High School, which is about 25 miles from Truist Park. In his offseasons, the White Sox starting pitcher lives in Woodstock.
It feels like a perfect hometown fit for the Braves, who could add a talented starting pitcher – in free agency or via trade – this winter.
On Wednesday at the winter meetings in Nashville, Scott Boras – baseball’s most well-known agent – held his usual press briefing. Boras represents Cease, who might be traded this offseason.
Does Boras get the feeling that the White Sox will move Cease this winter?
“You know, whenever you have power arms, and there are a few of them – top five Cy (Young Award) guys, historically, they’re just so hard to find,” Boras said. “And so you start looking at the rosters of clubs and what it would take to move that type of player. And obviously, a lot of teams think they have those players. I’m not sure that (White Sox general manager) Chris (Getz) will agree with that, but the idea of it is that they are certainly gonna cross the bridge, no doubt.”
The translation seems to be this: The White Sox’s price might be high because Cease is an incredible talent, but Chicago will entertain offers on its ace and perhaps trade him.
Cease has two years of control remaining. If the Braves were to give up a lot for him, it would seem logical that they might want to give him a contract extension.
Boras is viewed around the industry as someone who, in most cases, takes players to free agency. Might that make a Cease extension more difficult? Perhaps. But maybe the pull to home is strong enough to make this situation different.
Asked if Cease would be open to an extension if the Braves acquired him, Boras declined to comment in depth because his client still is with the White Sox.
But he said this: “We have not proposed any of those questions to Dylan because, obviously, nothing has happened.”
On Tuesday, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said his club has looked into free-agent starting pitchers and trade candidates. The Braves pursued Aaron Nola and were a finalist for the righty before he re-signed with Philadelphia. Reports have named the Braves as a potential landing spot for Cease, but it’s unclear how serious thet are (or were) about Cease.
Twice this week – once Sunday, then again Tuesday – Anthopoulos has talked about the lack of accuracy on some rumors about the Braves. He hasn’t mentioned specific reports, but has pushed back on some of what’s out there about his club.
The Braves, Anthopoulos said, targeted White Sox lefty Aaron Bummer. They wanted Jarred Kelenic. They’ve worked on adding a starting pitcher.
“Anyone speculating anything beyond that, someone decided to make stuff up,” Anthopoulos said. “But that’s it. We worked on Bummer specifically, we worked on Kelenic specifically, and then we worked on a variety of starters, both trade and free agency.”
Cease had a 4.58 ERA in 2023, but probably is a better pitcher than that. He finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2022.
Cease, who debuted in 2019, has eclipsed 200 strikeouts in all three of his full seasons in the majors. (This excludes the COVID-19 season.) In this three-season span, he has a 3.54 ERA over 526-2/3 innings.
Not only does Cease have great stuff, but he’s proved durable. He’s made 32, 32 and 33 starts over the past three years.
Braves sign Garcia to minor-league deal
The Braves signed utility man Leury Garcia to a minor-league deal with an invite to major-league spring training, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed.
In 2023, Garcia hit .210 with a .500 OPS over 300 at-bats. Over his career, he’s batted .253 with a .644 OPS.
But his positional versatility is intriguing. He can play second base, third base, shortstop and the outfield.
Garcia, 32, debuted in 2013 for the Rangers. The Rangers traded him to the White Sox that season, and he’d been in Chicago ever since.
Now, he’ll try to make the Braves roster.
Braves add pitcher in Rule 5 draft
The Braves weren’t going to select anyone in Wednesday’s major-league phase of the Rule 5 draft, but they took a left-handed pitcher in the minor-league portion.
The Braves added Tyler Thomas, who had a 2.86 ERA over 34-2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in the Mets’ organization in 2023. He struck out 41 batters.
In 2017, the Cubs drafted Thomas in the seventh round out of Fresno State. He first appeared at Triple-A in 2021. This summer, the Mets signed Thomas to a minor-league deal.
In the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, any player selected immediately goes to a club’s 26-man roster. The Braves, of course, are a contending team, so space on their roster is limited.
Thomas is now part of Triple-A Gwinnett’s roster.
The Braves opted against protecting any of their players from the Rule 5 draft by placing them on the 40-man roster, but the team didn’t lose anyone Wednesday. Lefty Luis de Avila was probably the most likely player to be selected among the Braves who were left unprotected.
Braves’ draft position
The Braves will select 24th in the MLB draft in July.
They also will have picks Nos. 64 (second round) and 102 (third round).
On Tuesday at the winter meetings, MLB held its draft lottery. Cleveland netted the first pick.
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