GOODYEAR, Ariz – On the day when the baseball world was humming with the latest round of Dylan Cease trade rumors, the person who seemed to be the least affected by the rampant trade speculation was Dylan Cease himself.
With fans and media wondering if he might be traded before his scheduled start Tuesday night, the unruffled ace of the White Sox pitching staff dominated the Cincinnati Reds for 3.1 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits with 8 strikeouts.
"Chris (Getz) called me in the morning. Kind of gave me a heads up that there were rumors going around," Cease said after his start. "It's out of my control. I just want to perform. Either way, I don't really view it as a negative."
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With trade speculation heating up, did Cease think he might get scratched from his start?
"No, that never crossed my mind."
The newest Cease trade rumors were fueled by a report by USA Today's Bob Nightengale, who tweeted on Tuesday morning that the Yankees, concerned about Gerrit Cole's right elbow, made a new offer for Cease.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal later reported that the Texas Rangers had made a strong offer for Cease which might have included utility man Ezequiel Duran and pitching prospects Brock Porter and Jack Leiter.
A number of scouts from opposing teams were on hand to watch Cease make his third Cactus League start. They saw Cease at his best.
"Commanding the heater, throwing the off speed for strikes, throwing the slider strike to ball. Very good," was how Cease summed up his outing.
He even tried throwing a new pitch he's been working on. A 64-mile-per-hour pitch he calls a "slow boy."
"It cut which is weird. It would have been right down the middle if it didn't cut," Cease said. "It's frustrating because I throw it for a strike really well in my warmups and then I haven't quite gotten it in a game, but I'm going to keep mixing those in. It's a lot of fun to throw."
For once, the struggling White Sox offense had some fun, crushing the Reds 14-1 behind five home runs, two of them by Luis Robert Jr., his first two of the spring. Robert's second blast was a tape measure shot that cleared the right side of the batter's eye in centerfield. The Reds media relations staff said they had never seen anyone hit a ball there.
"It felt good. I was looking for that pitch. He threw it at the right spot and I was able to hit it," said the mild-mannered Robert Jr. about his home run.
Cease went much further in describing his teammate's long moonshot.
"He's a game changer. He's a superstar. I don't know how far he hit that one today. 500 feet?" Cease said. "A guy like that is a pretty rare talent. You don't find a lot of them around."
The same can be said about Cease who has been in high demand for months.
At some point, Getz will likely pull the trigger on a trade, either before Opening Day or around the trade deadline in late July.
Stay tuned.