The MLB offseason is upon us, and that means that some of the league's top players will be signing new deals in free agency, either re-upping with their existing team or leaving town for greener pastures.
DraftKings has odds posted for where Dylan Cease will land for the 2026 season, with a few NL contenders leading the way.
Dylan Cease Next Team Odds, Predictions
Odds are via DraftKings.
Dylan Cease Free Agency Breakdown
Career
Cease made his major league debut as a member of the White Sox in the summer of 2019, making 14 starts that season to the tune of a 5.79 ERA for a team that was on the verge of contention. The right-hander had been traded over from the crosstown rival Cubs at the 2017 deadline as a well-regarded prospect, and figured to be a member of the White Sox's rotation when they made it out of the rebuilding doldrums.
He regressed a bit in the 2020 Covid season, but finally broke out in his first full season in 2021. He struck out a whopping 31.9% of the batters he faced across 165 2/3 innings, and while the walk rate was high, it didn't deter him from recording 4.5 fWAR for an AL Central-winning White Sox team. Cease finished runner-up for the AL Cy Young in 2022 and lowered his ERA to a minuscule 2.20, thanks to a reduction in home runs allowed.
2023 would be Cease's final season with the White Sox, as the core around Cease collapsed and the team imploded. He did his part, making all 33 starts and eating 177 innings while recording 3.6 fWAR, but Chicago decided to trade him and his final two seasons of club control to the Padres for a haul of prospects.
Cease put together arguably his best season in San Diego in 2024, recording a career-low 8.5% walk rate, and a career-high 4.7 fWAR for a Padres team that made it within one game of the NLCS. He managed to keep both his strikeout rate sky-high and his home run rate relatively low, assuming the role of ace in his first year in town.
2025 Season
Despite their expectation to remain competitive, the Padres flirted with the idea of trading Cease before the 2025 season. They ended up keeping him around, and although the San Diego rotation was injury-riddled and disappointing as a whole, the right-hander did his part. His ERA ballooned back up to 4.55, but thanks to his high strikeout rate and manageable walk rate, his FIP remained a very good 3.56 across 168 innings.
Unable to beat out the Dodgers for the division, the Padres were forced into the NL Wild Card Series against a tough Cubs team, which dispatched Cease's squad in three games, unceremoniously ending his Padres tenure. Cease enters the market as the top right-handed starter with MLB experience, and teams will be lining up to sign him to a long-term deal.
Top Suitors
Chicago Cubs
At the front of that proverbial line should be the team that drafted Dylan Cease out of high school in 2014: the Chicago Cubs. Current President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer was general manager during that draft, and could bring Cease to the north side of Chicago for the second time.
The Cubs will have significant starting rotation innings to fill after declining left-hander Shota Imanaga's option, and they won't necessarily get them from homegrown ace Justin Steele, who will likely miss multiple months of the season while recovering from an April 2025 Tommy John surgery. The other members of the rotation include good-but-not-dominant veterans in Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd, NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Cade Horton, and a few other pitchers who haven't pitched a full starter's workload.
Signing Cease would not only fill up innings, but also add a dominant strikeout artist to a Cubs rotation that lacks swing-and-miss. Of course, there is some risk to bringing Cease, a fly-ball pitcher, into a windy Wrigley Field environment, but pitchers like Imanaga have been able to survive — and even thrive — in those conditions with lesser stuff. Cease makes a lot of sense for the Cubs if the Ricketts family is willing to write him a check.
Baltimore Orioles
Speaking of teams that need pitching help, the Baltimore Orioles and owner David Rubenstein should be ready to spend following a disappointing 2025 season. The Orioles' rotation ranked 24th in ERA and strikeout rate last season, while ranking an even lower 25th in FIP thanks to a sky-high home run total.
Much like he would with the Cubs, Cease would add a dominant, proven commodity to an Orioles rotation that desperately needs one. It's unclear what can be expected from Grayson Rodriguez, who is battling elbow issues, and Kyle Bradish, who just returned from Tommy John surgery, early on in 2025. Trevor Rogers pitched incredibly over 109 2/3 innings last season, but an abysmal hard-hit rate and an average whiff rate present red flags in his ability to do so again in 2026.
Cease would be the frontline arm the Orioles have needed since Corbin Burnes left in free agency following the 2024 season. His fly ball profile shouldn't hurt him too much in Camden Yards these days, especially against right-handed pull hitters who would have to clear the ballpark's high and deep left-field fence. The ability to miss bats over a full workload of innings is something the Orioles' rotation lacks, and through the ups and downs of his career, Cease has been able to keep that part of his game consistent.
New York Mets
The team whose rotation is perhaps most in flux and is most able to pay for an upgrade out of these three is the Mets. In 2025, due to injuries and poor performance, their starting staff was very piecemeal; only David Peterson and Clay Holmes made 30 or more starts, and they weren't necessarily dominant. Sean Manaea, Griffin Canning, Frankie Montas, and Tylor Megill all missed significant time with injury, and in Manaea's and Montas' cases, weren't very good when they were on the mound.
For the Mets, Cease would provide long-term stability in a rotation that currently has none. They don't have a single starter under contract past 2027, and while the young trio of Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat have shown flashes of dominance, they can't make up the entirety of the team's pitching depth. Signing Cease would not only plug a hole for 2026, but also provide them with dominant, bulk innings for the foreseeable future.
