It was only two years ago that Dylan Cease was the crown jewel of the trade market, eventually moving from the White Sox to the Padres in a Spring Training deal .

It was only natural to point to the winter of 2025-26 and project the right-hander among the top prizes on the free-agent market, but Cease’s platform season didn’t go as well as he may have hoped, raising questions as to which version of the pitcher teams will be bidding on in the coming months.

Cease went 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts in 2025, throwing 168 innings for San Diego, his lowest total since 2021. He still struck out a ton of batters – 215, to be exact – topping the 200 mark for the fifth consecutive season, while ranking in the 89th percentile in strikeout percentage (29.8%). But he also issued 71 walks – t

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