Breaking news lays out expensive Blue Jays-Padres trade package for Dylan Cease…

The Toronto Blue Jays recently made a move to improve their bullpen, but they may (and should) not be done yet. Their roster is still incomplete heading into 2025 and it is starting to get noticed by MLB reporters how much of a disaster this offseason has been. Toronto has unfortunately missed out on a handful of notable free agents, but they still have time to make an impact.

With that in mind, Bleacher Report has made another prediction relating to the Blue Jays, this time propsing a trade with the Padres for one of their starting pitchers, but at a price that could steer Toronto away. Their proposal includes San Diego sending Dylan Cease in a deal to the Blue Jays to acquire both Yariel Rodriguez and Ricky Tiedemann.

For the price of two controllable arms in Rodriguez and Tiedemann, it may not exactly make sense for Toronto to acquire Cease. He would be an outstanding addition to the rotation, joining the front end, but he is just an expensive rental that will become a free agent after the season.

With the holes that they have been unable to fill in their roster this offseason, it might not make a whole lot of sense to give up their future for a guy on an expiring contract, but it would work out if they were able to land a big free agent to pair with him, making a more of a contending team.

Bleacher Reports proposal between the Blue Jays and Padres is quite expensive, but could be worth it if Toronto follows through

Cease would make the Blue Jays’ starting rotation elite as he is coming off a season where he finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. He posted an earned run average of 3.47 with a FIP of 3.10 across 189.1 innings and struck out 224 batters in 2024. Opponents batted just .197 against him and he walked opponents at an 8.5% clip to create a WHIP of 1.07.

Adding that level of production on the mound would change everything for Toronto, but their roster is not quite set to contend yet. They would have to give up their number two ranked prospect and a big international signing from last offseason. Since they are not ready to contend, acquiring Cease would set them back and really hurt their long term plans.

Tiedemann has dealt with injuries, but when healthy, he has been a very impressive southpaw. Rodriguez had an impressive rookie season, but is looking more like a long relief option. He produced an earned run average of 4.47 across 86.2 innings and put together a WHIP of 1.32.

Overall, acquiring Cease would only make sense if they can land other stars to their team. He would make them better for 2025, but at the cost of two arms that could make a big impact down the road. With the uncertainity of the offense right now, that is a big risk to take if they cannot land guys like Anthony Santander or Alex Bregman.