The New York Yankees have made a new offer to the Chicago White Sox for right-handed starting pitcher Dylan Schiess. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Yankees' decision to play the White Sox again came a day after ace Gerrit Cole announced he would undergo an MRI on his right elbow.
Exactly who the Yankees will offer to the White Sox in exchange for a break is unclear. Nightengale noted that the Yankees' offer does not likely include outfield prospect Spencer Jones. Previous reports suggested the White Sox were keen on Jones, a 22-year-old outfielder with tremendous power.
Cease, 28, wrote a disappointing sequel to a breakout 2022 season. At the time, he had a 2.20 ERA (over 180 ERA) and a 2.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio, good enough to finish second in American League Cy Young Award voting, but last year He recorded a 4.58 (ERA of 97 or higher). ), with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.71.
Cease still has one more year of control of the team after this season, making him a more attractive player than a typical rental.
Despite the apparent setback, CBS Sports highlighted several reasons why Ceasefire appears to be a hot commodity on the trade market last November. That included the possibility that he could improve with proper guidance. Below is part of the explanation.
We noted that Schiess has an outstanding slider, but throws it in the zone only 37% of the time. The league average rate for starting pitchers in 2023 was 45.2%. The Seeds have done well without filling the zone with their sliders, but if they can find a way to find the zone more often with called strikes, they could benefit in multiple ways: 1) Possibly By lowering his walk rate (because) he's less likely to fall behind), 2) Preventing batters from sitting on his fastball (because that's the main pitch he throws for strikes).
Our own Mike Aksisa laid out some of the Yankees' other options if Cole needs to sit out. These include signing free agent left-hander Blake Snell, trading for another Chicago-based starter, or promoting internal options.
