Chicago White Sox Rumors: Dylan Cease not available in trade talks

While the Chicago White Sox are expected to be among the most active sellers at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline on August 1, it would appear that the White Sox are remaining firm in their belief that they can contend next season.

Previous reports have suggested that the White Sox are planning on building their next core around starting pitcher Dylan Cease and center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

Despite those reports, that has not stopped the Houston Astros from pursuing a blockbuster trade including Cease and Robert.

The trading of Cease or Robert would signal a complete teardown for the White Sox but the front office may not be ready for that lever to be pulled.

To that end, Bob Nightengale of The USA Today reported on Wednesday that the White Sox remain firm in telling teams that Cease is not available in trade talks this season.

The Chicago White Sox have no intention of trading Dylan Cease.

One thing is clear, the White Sox feel they can return to contention in 2024.

While there certainly is some truth to that being that the American League Central does not have a clear favorite moving forward, it would be foolish to think all of the White Sox’s problems can be solved in one off-season.

The issue for the White Sox is the debate of whether or not Rick Hahn should be the person in charge of threading the needle between selling at the deadline this season while making moves that put the team in a position to contend in 2024.

Hahn and his failure to progress the development of the White Sox core along with his inability to address the needs of the team is a large part of the reason why the White Sox went from a World Series contender to their contention window being shut within two seasons and no postseason series victory to show for it.

To that end, it would be negligent of the White Sox to not consider a trade of Cease at this season’s deadline. The White Sox are not going to sign Cease to a new contract once he is a free agent in 2026 and with a farm system bereft of talent, moving an ace-caliber starting pitcher under team control for multiple seasons ahead would be a tremendous step for an organization that is broken at it’s core.