MLB rumors: How White Sox's Dylan Cease trade asking price compares to Brewers' Corbin Burnes haul

There might be belief that the Chicago White Sox can turn things around following a disappointing 2023 season, but there remains plenty of noise surrounding a potential Dylan Cease trade. Cease, for the right offer, can be had, although what the White Sox franchise believes is the right offer could be subject to change, relative to how heated the bidding gets.

Nevertheless, one comparable pitcher in Corbin Burnes was traded earlier in the offseason from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Baltimore Orioles. The return Burnes netted the Brewers could then act as a barometer for how much the White Sox will be demanding from Cease's prospective suitors.

However, the White Sox are reportedly asking for more in exchange for Dylan Cease than what the Brewers got for Burnes. Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, teams that have kicked the tires on a trade for Cease have suggested that the White Sox “seek maybe one and a half times” the package the Orioles gave up.

This is the case for two reasons; first, Cease is making just $8 million for 2024, which is a bargain for the caliber of starting pitcher that he is. Secondly, he has another year of arbitration coming up, so any team trading for him won't be getting just a season-long rental at the minimum; this is unlike Burnes' contract situation, as he's set to enter free agency at the conclusion of the season.

It's unclear how much more willing the New York Yankees are to pursue Dylan Cease amid the uncertainty of Gerrit Cole's elbow injury, but according to the rumor mill, the White Sox starter is someone the Yankees have targeted for quite a while now. Cease won't place a huge financial imposition on the team, making him a more likely addition for the team in pinstripes than, say, a Blake Snell.

Cease's raw numbers declined last season; he put up a 4.58 ERA in 177 innings of work (33 games), and both his strikeout and walk rate got worse. However, he's only 28 years old, and his peripherals, despite a decline, remain rock solid, so the White Sox are well within their rights to ask for the moon in any prospective trade.