Now that free agent starting pitcher targets Aaron Nola (Phillies) and Sonny Gray (Cardinals) are officially off the board, Atlanta’s reportedly turned to the trade market to find their next frontline starter.

Baseball insider Bob Nightengale has reported that the Braves have joined the Dodgers and “several others” in discussions to trade for Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease.

Cease, 27, has two remaining years of team control before reaching free agency in 2026.

His 2023 wasn’t as successful as planned, with a 7-9 record and 4.58 ERA, but he’s only one season removed from being a runner-up for the AL Cy Young Award on the heels of a 14-8 record and 2.20 ERA. Several White Sox pitchers saw career-worst years as the team slumped to MLB’s 4th worst record at 61-101.

Another intriguing reason to want Cease is his durability – since debuting in 2019, he’s made at least 32 starts in three consecutive seasons, twice leading the American League in the category.

In that same vein, the Braves initially targeted the uber-resilient Aaron Nola in free agency, offering him $27M per year, only to see him take less money to return to Philadelphia on a seven-year contract.

Atlanta then pivoted to Sonny Gray, but he signed this morning with the St. Louis Cardinals on a four year, $100M contract.

The move to look at the trade market for Dylan Cease means Atlanta’s still willing to incur additional costs to secure a pitching upgrade – while Nola and Gray both had qualifying offers, which would have required Atlanta to forfeit their 2nd and 5th highest draft picks in the 2024 MLB Draft to sign them, Cease will cost some undetermined amount of prospect capital to acquire from Chicago.