San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease has his name mentioned in MLB trade rumors of late, but it's something that doesn't seem to affect him a lot. After all, he's used to it, having been traded to San Diego in 2024 by the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Samuel Zavala Jairo Iriarte, Drew Thorpe and Steven Wilson.

“There were a lot of rumors last year,” Cease said on Saturday, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I feel like it’s really just part of it. I really don’t take it in a negative way.”

Among the teams said to be looking in the direction of Cease this offseason are the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs, as recently reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Heyman described the Mets as “trying for Padres rental ace Dylan Cease (and presumably would also consider rotation mate Michael King),” while also saying that the Cubs are part of the picture. However, Heyman also said that the Padres may like what the Mets can potentially offer San Diego in terms of prospects.

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“The Cubs also are involved. But while their prospect list is ranked higher, with highly regarded 3B prospect Matt Shaw understandably off limits in rental deals, the Padres may prefer the Mets’ list, including Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams and Luisangel Acuña,” shared Heyman.

Cease is about to become a free agent by the end of the 2025 MLB season, which is also after his salary was raised to $13.75 million with the Padres. One reason for San Diego to trade Cease concerns their spending. With the huge salaries of Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, the Padres are projected to have a payroll of $205 million in 2025 — a considerable jump from their estimated final 2024 payroll of $169 million, per FanGraphs.

In 2024, his first season with the Padres, Cease made 33 appearances (all starts) and went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA and a 3.10 WHIP. Overall in his career so far in the big leagues, Cease owns a 57-46 record with a 3.75 ERA and a 114 ERA+.

The 29-year-old Cease memorably threw a no-hitter for the Padres in July 2024 versus the Washington Nationals.