Latest Dylan Cease rumors give Texas Rangers fans hope that offseason can be saved

This offseason for the Texas Rangers has been incredibly disappointing, considering what it could have been. The Rangers are coming off a World Series win, and the free agent and trade markets had top quality talent available that would have put Texas firmly in the driver's seat in the American League. Instead, concerns over the team's long-term TV revenue not only kept them from adding to their roster, but also seemingly is keeping Texas from bringing back a key piece of the Rangers' postseason run, Jordan Montgomery.

However, it does appear that the Rangers are exploring a move for a familiar name that could turn their offseason around. Dylan Cease was a white hot name on the trade market at the start of the offseason, but the White Sox's high price tag for the righty smothered those early trade talks pretty quickly and led to many suitors looking elsewhere. However, now it appears that the White Sox are more interested in getting a trade done and the Rangers are currently in hot pursuit of Cease.

Texas Rangers Rumors: Rangers working on late offseason deal for Dylan Cease

Given all of the injuries in their rotation and the impending departure of Montgomery, the roster fit between the Rangers and Cease makes loads of sense. While bringing back Montgomery would be a strictly better baseball move, payroll is definitely a concern the team is weighing heavily, and Cease is only set to make $8 million in 2024. He has one more year of team control after the season as well, while Montgomery is still looking for the long-term, big money deal that has eluded him thus far.

In Ken Rosenthal's original report on the Rangers' interest, he indicated that he got some word early on Tuesday that a deal between Texas and the White Sox was close. However, he later got conflicting information that while trade discussions have certainly been ongoing, it wasn't true that anything was imminent and there may be a good reason for that.

The Rangers' interest in trading for a potential frontline arm like Cease is easy to understand, but the Yankees may be even more motivated to make the move. Gerrit Cole's arm injury and subsequent MRI has turned the AL playoff race on its head ahead of the 2024 season, and New York may have no choice but to find another quality starter and soon. The only question is whether or not Chicago is going to hold firm to their previous trade demands, or if they are actually willing to negotiate a bit.

Both the Rangers and Yankees have the prospects to get a deal done. However, Texas probably has more top end prospects that would actually be available in trade talks, unless the Yankees have changed their mind about making Spencer Jones available. At this point, it is just a matter of whether or not the Rangers have the resolve to make the move for Cease and save their offseason.

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