San Diego is reportedly listening to offers for the 29-year-old right-hander, who will be a free agent this offseason.
The Mets are among a number of teams who have checked in on Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease ahead of the trade deadline, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman cited the Cubs, Red Sox, and crosstown-rival Yankees as other interested parties.
Cease, a Cy Young runner-up with the White Sox back in 2022, holds a 4.59 ERA with 144 strikeouts and 42 walks in 20 starts this season. Since his debut in 2019, Cease’s 1,160 strikeouts are the most of any pitcher in baseball; Cease also boasts the sixth-highest fWAR (19.8) and seventh-most innings pitched (961.0) in that span.
The right-handed 29-year-old will be a free agent this offseason, so any team acquiring Cease would only have him as a rental for the remainder of the 2025 season. Despite the Padres listening on offers, Heyman called it a “major long shot” that Cease gets dealt given San Diego is in the thick of postseason contention, currently 1.5 games up on the third N.L. Wild Card spot.
Though David Stearns said in a press conference Monday that the Mets would focus on bolstering their relief pitching ahead of the deadline, the bullpen’s recent struggles would surely be ameliorated by having less ground to cover. Since June 25, the Mets have gotten the fewest innings from their starting pitching (95.1) of any team in baseball. Cease, meanwhile, has thrown 113.2 innings this season, which would rank second on the Mets behind David Peterson’s 115.0. If the Mets wanted to switch to a six-man rotation to push each of their starters more on a daily basis or move Clay Holmes back to the bullpen as he blows past his career-high in innings pitched, Cease could be an attractive trade target.