Despite currently holding down the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, the San Diego Padres are reportedly open to moving starting pitcher Dylan Cease.
The New York Post‘s Jon Heyman and ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Wednesday that San Diego is listening to offers on the 29-year-old right-hander ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.
Given the Padres’ status as a playoff contender, Heyman called the possibility of a move a “major long shot,” but prefaced that by saying San Diego often listens on rentals.
Cease is currently in his final year of arbitration and will become a free agent at the end of the season.
After giving up two earned runs earlier Wednesday in a loss to the Miami Marlins, Cease’s ERA sits at 4.59 — a down season for the seven-year MLB veteran. Despite the bloated ERA, Cease is still striking out 11.40 hitters per nine innings and owns a much more palatable 3.58 FIP, suggesting that he has gotten unlucky from a run prevention standpoint thus far in 2025.
Beyond Cease, San Diego has gotten solid starting pitching from the likes of Canada’s Nick Pivetta, Randy Vásquez and Michael King when healthy.
Heyman listed the Yankees, Mets, Cubs and Red Sox as teams that have checked in with Padres on Cease, while Olney more broadly grouped “AL East teams” in the trade talks.
Olney also reported that rival teams believe San Diego would move Cease to bolster their roster in other spots to help its push for the post-season.
The Padres have one of the weaker offences among playoff teams, ranking 25th across MLB in runs scored, 27th in home runs and 23rd in OPS after the conclusion of their loss to Miami on Wednesday afternoon.
