3 backup plans if the Reds don't trade for Tyler Glasnow or Shane Bieber

3. The Reds swing for the fences and trade for Dylan Cease

This would be a costly, yet potentially franchise-altering trade. The Chicago White Sox are known to be shopping nearly every player on their major league roster. That includes slugger Eloy Jimenez and starting pitcher Dylan Cease.

The biggest advantage that a deal for Cease has over trading for Tyler Glasnow or Shane Bieber is the additional year of team control. Glasnow and Bieber will be free agents next winter while Cease doesn't hit the open market until after the 2025 season.

However, that additional year comes with a cost, and that cost is a much more lucrative trade package. The Cincinnati Reds know all too well what those type of deals look like.

Remember how much the Reds got in return for Luis Castillo at the 2022 MLB trade deadline? If you don't think Dylan Cease is as good as Castillo, how about Tyler Mahle? That trade yielded the Reds Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and a pitcher who'd later be dealt in exchange for Will Benson.

If you were Nick Krall, would you give up a package of Steer, Encarnacion-Strand, and Benson for two years of Cease? If not, you'd better think long and hard about whether or not it makes sense to pivot from Glasnow or Bieber to Cease.

But the possibility of trading for Dylan Cease is definitely on the table, and the Cincinnati Reds have the assets to get a deal done. It's just a matter of whether or not pulling the trigger on such a trade is wise.