Outlandish asking price for Dylan Cease should have the Reds running for the hills

Reds fans know that the asking price for Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is going to be high. While other starters like Tyler Glasnow and Shane Bieber will become free agents after next season, Cease is under team-control through 2025.

But according to Bruce Levine, a contributor for the Marquee Sports Network, the Cincinnati Reds were asked for four of their top prospects in exchange for Cease.

Among the four prospects named were Rhett Lowder and Chase Petty. Levine also mentioned the No. 9 and No. 11 position prospects as well. If it's assumed that Levine was talking about MLB Pipeline's rankings, then he would be referring to Carlos Jorge and Sammy Stafura.

Outlandish asking price for Dylan Cease included several top Reds prospects

If the these latest Reds rumors are true, then the Cincinnati faithful better give up the idea of adding Dylan Cease this offseason. There's no way in the world that Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall is going to offer anything close that asking price.

On the plus side, the White Sox only asked for one of Cincinnati's Top 100 prospects (Rhett Lowder). But the trio of Chase Petty, Carlos Jorge, and Sammy Stafura are very highly regarded by the organization.

Lowder was the Reds first-round draft pick earlier this year. Petty was traded to Cincinnati in exchange for Sonny Gray prior to the 2022 season. Jorge is a fast-rising prospect within the Reds farm system, and Stafura was taken in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

These Reds rumors could very well send Cincinnati back into the free agent market in order to shore up the team's starting rotation. There are still several good starting pitchers available that wouldn't cost the Reds an ounce of prospect capital.