Rangers' rumored Dylan Cease trade package is surprisingly light

All offseason, we have heard about how high an asking price the White Sox had on Dylan Cease. While it is understandable that they would value two years of control of Cease highly, especially if they truly believe he is an ace, that asking price kept many teams from pursuing him very hard --including the Texas Rangers.

Flash forward to today and, all of a sudden, there has been significant movement towards Cease actually getting moved. The Yankees have an offer out to Chicago for him in the wake of Gerrit Cole's arm troubles, but the important part for Rangers fans is that Texas is very much in the running to land Cease themselves.

Even more surprising, the rumored package that the White Sox want from the Rangers in exchange for Cease seems surprisingly reasonable.

Texas Rangers should jump on the White Sox's Cease asking price

In Ken Rosenthal's report, he noted that the decision that the Rangers are currently having to make is over whether or not a trade package that consists of Ezequiel Duran, Brock Porter, and Jack Leiter (or an equivalent package) is a price they are willing to pay. While that is a significant cost, the Rangers should jump on it if that report is accurate.

For a Rangers team in desperate need of an offseason win, this should be a no-brainer. Brock Porter is a fantastic pitching prospect, but he also hasn't played above low-A and could take a while to be ready for the big leagues. Jack Leiter has the family pedigree and was a high draft pick, but he has struggled a lot with his control in the minors and sports a 5.37 ERA in 177.2 minor league innings. Duran is talented, but is the odd man out right now given how deep the Rangers are in the infield, and his inconsistency can be maddening. He found himself entirely on the outside looking in during Texas' playoff run -- and that's a Rangers lineup that's about to add Wyatt Langford, not subtract, by the way.

Is there a real cost in going after Cease? Absolutely, this is by no means a bargain basement deal. However, landing Cease, who is only owed $8 million this year, would go a long way towad helping the Rangers weather the loss of multiple rotation arms early in the season and make the rotation a strength once guys like Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom hopefully return later in the season. For a team that needs to watch its payroll, but that still wants to defend its World Series title, this is a move the Rangers need to make if that is all the White Sox are asking for.

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