Now that Sonny Gray is off of the market in free agency, you can almost feel the mild panic setting in for Atlanta Braves fans. They know that the club and Alex Anthopoulos want to be aggressive in upgrading the rotation this offseason, but Gray was rumored to be their top target. So now where do they pivot?
One of the first big names that was floated out was White Sox young star Dylan Cease, who has been the subject of trade rumors dating back to the deadline, but much more so as Chris Getz institutes a teardown on the Southside of Chicago.
Trading for Cease would ostensibly make sense for Anthopoulos and the Braves. He's an under-30 pitcher who finished second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022 who also has two years of club control remaining on his deal. That feels like a prototype for the type of player Anthopoulos would be aggressive in pursuing, especially to fill a position of need.
However, FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray poured some cold (or maybe cool-ish) water on the possibility of a Braves-Cease trade during the latest episode of the Baseball Insiders.
MLB Rumors: Braves-Cease trade could face 1 major obstacle
Murray, responding to a question in the comments of the show, noted that Cease is represented by Scott Boras. And that could be something that complicates a potential trade for the White Sox ace.
"Anthopoulos typically acquires players who he thinks can sign before they hit free agency, before they establish their value on the open market," Murray said. "And that is not what a Boras client does at all. They wait to get to free agency and let the market establish his value and then get top dollar. So that's why I'm a little bit skeptical that Cease will ultimately be traded to Atlanta."
Murray continued that this doesn't mean it won't happen as Cease is from Georgia and Anthopoulos has often targeted players from that area in hopes to make it easier to extend them. However, he also believes that the Boras connection makes him more likely to be traded to the Dodgers than the Braves, another NL contender desperately looking to upgrade its starting pitching.
You can see Murray's breakdown and the full episode of Baseball Insiders below.
The Boras factor undoubtedly complicates the situation for the Braves trying to pull off this trade, but it doesn't rule them out. Atlanta has a bevy of young arms populating the top-ranked players in its farm system, which would surely be appealing to the White Sox as they look to stockpile talent and rebuild.
What's good news for the Braves is that there are other possible options on the table still too. They could possibly pursue the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell or a number of other top free agent arms, or explore the trade markets for the likes of Tyler Glasnow or Shane Bieber. As it pertains to Cease, though, it might be wise for Braves fans to not get their hopes up too much given this information regarding Boras.