White Sox general manager Chris Getz has been increasingly blunt about the trade market for Dylan Cease.
Early-offseason reports suggested there was a 90-percent chance Cease would be traded before spring training, but with pitchers and catchers reporting to Camelback Ranch on Wednesday, that's no longer the reality.
Getz has made it clear in recent weeks that he has no problem going into the season with Cease on the roster. On Monday, he went a step further.
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"At this point, Dylan Cease, I expect him to be our Opening Day starter," Getz told reporters in a Zoom session. "He's had an awesome offseason. I've been in contact with him regularly, and I know his name has been out there publicly with potential trades and, unsurprisingly, it hasn't affected him. He's so professional [and] just focused on the task at hand. So I look forward to seeing him in a couple of days, and I certainly feel like he's well-positioned to have an excellent year."
Since January, the word around MLB has been that the White Sox are asking for "the sun and the moon" in exchange for the right-handed ace, with ESPN reporting that Cease would likely remain on the South Side until the trade deadline.
“There is no pressure on them to lower their asking price,” one executive told ESPN's Buster Olney. “They’ll get what they want at the (trade) deadline.”
Getz, himself, has been clear that he won't budge on the price tag.
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"When you've got someone of a Dylan Cease [caliber] and how he prepares and the lifestyle that he lives, the even temperament at which he operates and obviously the talent and the stuff, they are a rarity," Getz said Sunday on MLB Network Radio. "... I think very highly of Dylan Cease. I am very comfortable going into spring training, into the season with Dylan.”
White Sox Opening Day is slated for March 28 against the Detroit Tigers at 3:10 CT.