The Braves are among the teams in ongoing trade talks with the White Sox regarding right-hander , USA Todays Bob Nightengale. Atlanta had been connected to a pair of notable free agent starters, and , but Nola re-signed in Philadelphia last week and Gray is reportedly today. With their ostensible top two free-agent targets off the board, its not a surprise to see the Braves being more prominently connected to the trade market. Ceases White Sox are generally open for busine s on the heels of a catastrophic 2023 season that led to the firing of longtime baseball ops executives Rick Hahn and . A sistant GM has since been elevated to the GMs chair, and Getz plainly stated following the season that there are no untouchables on his roster. Cease, with two remaining years of club control, is among the likelier and most appealing trade candidates Getz has at his disposal. Cease, 28 next month, was the American League Cy Young runner-up in 2022 but had a down season in 2023 one of the myriad factors which contributed to the disastrous season on Chicagos south side. His 2022 campaign featured 184 frames of 2.20 ERA ball with a dominant 30.4% strikeout rate against a 10. Cincinnati Reds Jersey 4% walk rate, but that version of Cease appeared far too infrequently for the Soxs liking in 2023. This past season saw the righty post a pedestrian 4.58 earned run average in 177 innings, showing diminished fastball velocity (95.8 mph, down from 96.9 mph a year prior) and a le ser strikeout rate (27.3%). [Related: ] Cease made a nominal improvement in his walk rate (10.1%), but virtually every other aspect of his profile backed up in 23. His opponents average exit velocity and hard-hit rates exploded, jumping from 86.8 mph and 31.2% in 2022 to 90 mph and 41.5% in 2023. Both his swinging-strike and opponents chase rate dropped sharply as well, and Cease allowed an average of 0.97 homers per nine frames after yielding 0.76 HR/9 in 2022. He had some obvious struggles due to the poor defense behind him, with a career-high .330 average on balls in play (up from .260 the previous year), but that alone is not the driving force behind his struggles. Some of the BABIP spike was likely of his own doing anyhow; the uptick in hard contact he yielded certainly contributed to more balls finding their way through an already porous defense. Although Ceases 2023 season wasnt a particularly strong year in terms of run-prevention, he still boasts well above-average velocity and bat-mi sing capabilities. Fielding-independent metrics (3.72 FIP, 4.10 SIERA) felt he was better than that lackluster ERA, even if he wasnt as sharp as he was in 2022. Hes also proven himself a durable and reliable arm, as hes made a full slate of starts in each of the past four seasons. Add in a reasonable $8.8MM projected salary , and its abundantly clear that Cease still po se ses plenty of trade value. Consider that and , a pair of innings eaters in their late 30s who dont have the same upside as Ceases 2022 campaign, signed for $11MM and $12MM, respectively, with the Cardinals. Ceases projected $8.8MM salary is a clear bargain particularly with another year of arbitration set to follow. As things stand, the Atlanta rotation projects to consist of , , and , with a fifth-spot competition headlined by , and (eventually) a returning , who underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2023 season. The Braves have prioritized adding a playoff-caliber arm to that group, both to safeguard against injury for the top of the rotation and also to protect against the potential departure of Fried, wholl be a free agent following the season. Cease would accomplish both of those goals. In many ways, a trade is the more sensible route for the Braves to go in terms of their rotation need anyhow. Atlantas projected payroll is already just shy of $207MM, , but their luxury-tax obligations are far more consequential. The Braves project at around $241MM of luxury considerations, which already has them north of the $237MM luxury tax barrier. This is the second straight year theyll be paying the luxury tax, so theyll be penalized at a 30% rate for the first $20MM by which they exceed the tax and a 42% rate for the next $20MM. Signing a free agent like Nola or Gray wouldve come with around $7-9MM in luxury penalties this year on top of the players actual salary. And, since the Braves are set up to be third-time payors in 2024, theyd be facing even steeper tax percentages next season. Cease, of course, will come with those same penalties, but a 30% tax on his projected $8.8MM salary would bring the total outlay for acquiring him (speaking strictly financially) to around $11.5MM a far more palatable price point than the free-agent market has to offer. Atlanta would also have the offseason to explore a po sible extension with Cease an Atlanta-area native (Milton, Ga.). The Braves have had plenty of succe s both acquiring and extending players with local ties, be it through the draft or through trades. The Braves farm system has been stripped down by previous trades to acquire names like , and several relievers ( , , , ). They still have some appealing young talent, particularly in the upper minors or even some young big leaguers whove already gotten their feet wet. Smith-Shawver, Dodd and infielder , for instance, would all hold appeal to the White Sox (and to other potential trade partners with pitching to peddle). The Sox and Braves already this offseason, with Chicago sending the aforementioned lefty reliever Bummer to Atlanta. Atlanta figures to face steep competition with regard to Cease, who offers one of the most tantalizing blends of raw talent, affordable salary and remaining club control on this offseasons trade market. MLBTR ranked Cease sixth on our original list of the . The , and just about any other team in need of starting pitching figures to check in particularly those that may not want to spend top-of-the-market dollars to augment their starting staffs in free agency. That group could include the Reds, Pirates, D-backs, Padres and Orioles, to list a speculative few. George Foster Jersey