At center of trade rumor storm, Cease remains 'locked in'

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Dylan Cease rumor mill continued to swirl Wednesday, with more teams mentioned as potential suitors for the ace. But the right-hander continues to take what he called “chatter” in stride.

Tuesday, it was the Yankees being reported as the leading candidate to land Cease, though sources characterized those reports as overblown. The Padres and Rangers are the two most recent clubs said to be involved in talks with the White Sox, who have held to their high asking price for the 28-year-old.

“It's happened so many times in the past couple months, it really just feels like noise,” Cease said. “I definitely see what's being said; people send me stuff and all that, but I feel like if I was really overly focused on that, it would be hard to perform. I just prioritize performance over everything else.”

Cease had to be happy with his performance Tuesday night, as he allowed one run over 3 1/3 innings against the Reds, striking out eight. Cease has a 2.16 ERA in three starts this spring, showing the kind of stuff that any contender would like to add to its rotation just two weeks prior to Opening Day.

“I think the way I’ve pitched this spring has probably increased [the trade talk] a little bit; I've been really locked in,” Cease said. “I think if we're in a spot -- assuming I'm still with the team -- and we're at the [Trade] Deadline and we're either in first or we're hunting for first, I could see me not getting traded. There's obviously the business side where in a lot of scenarios, it would make sense. Crazier things have happened. Nothing's written in stone, so I'm really not in the business of predicting anything. I’m just taking the ball every five days.”

While general manager Chris Getz felt the need to speak with Cease about the reports on Tuesday, manager Pedro Grifol hasn’t been concerned about the noise impacting the pitcher’s ability to stay focused on his work.

“He's the perfect guy for this, he takes this in stride,” Grifol said. “It doesn't affect his job, it doesn't affect the way he goes about his business, his routine. You saw him last night; he was as good as ever. He made one mistake all night long and was on top of his game, so it doesn't affect him. It's not affecting us. I think everybody here knows the business, knows what this is about. We'll see where it goes.”

Cease has been dealing with the trade rumors since last summer, a natural byproduct of him being two seasons away from potential free agency. He said he enjoys Chicago and has made some great friends during his time with the White Sox, but he also knows the reality of the situation, saying “it’s always a possibility” that a trade could happen.

“It’s like kind of just something that's happening, but it's really not anything I'm super overly concerned with,” Cease said. “I'm like a fan with it, just seeing what's going on with this rumor or that rumor. The only thing I really want is to perform well at the end of the day, so that’s all I really focus on.”