Chicago White Sox Rumors: Dylan Cease and Erick Fedde updates

Heading into the Winter Meetings this week, the Atlanta Braves emerged as a favorite to land Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease.

The White Sox are expected to move Cease before the start of the 2024 season with the Braves being a fit after they missed on free-agent starting pitcher Aaron Nola earlier this off-season.

It would seem that the Braves’ interest in Cease may have been overstated. Mark Bowman covers the Braves for MLB dot com and pushed back on the idea that Atlanta is the favorite to acquire the White Sox’s ace.

"The Braves haven’t shown serious interest in free agent Shohei Ohtani, and it doesn’t feel like they should be considered favorites to land White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease via a trade.-MLB dot com"

White Sox fans don’t have to worry about the Braves’ interest, or lack thereof, in Shohei Ohtani considering team owner Jerry Reinsdorf laughed off the idea of pursuing Ohtani when asked last summer.

The White Sox are said to have a high asking price on Cease at the moment, so, it’s possible that the Braves leaked the news to Bowman as a way to gain some leverage in trade talks. Interest in Cease has been high at the Winter Meetings with, at least, four teams engaging in trade talks with the White Sox.

Chicago White Sox in a bidding war for Erick Fedde

Starting pitcher Erik Fedde is expected to make a return to Major League Baseball after spending the 2023 season playing in the KBO. Fedde is close to signing with a team as the bidding is believed to be between the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets.

Fedde posted a 2.00 ERA in 180.1 innings pitched last season. For a White Sox team that needs innings to be eaten during the 2024 season, Fedde is the exact type of pitcher that they should be targeting.