Tigers should explore trade with Padres to upgrade rotation (and block rival)

While the Detroit Tigers' offseason has been pretty underwhelming, there are still teams outdoing them in terms of inactivity. The Padres, Twins, Brewers, Marlins, and Cardinals haven't spent a single cent and a couple of them are instead shedding payroll.

The Padres might be having the worst offseason of them all, though; they're currently in the middle of an ownership battle involving Peter Seidler's widow Sheel and his brothers Matthew and Robert. They lost multiple players in free agency, including reliever Tanner Scott, who just signed with their greatest division rival, and Jurickson Profar, who had the best season of his career in San Diego last year. And they didn't even crack Roki Sasaki's top two before he also ended up with the Dodgers. Yeesh.

San Diego's offseason seemed like Sasaki or bust, and now that Sasaki is officially a Dodger, the Padres could be heading toward a fire sale of sorts. Although their rotation has basically been decimated (they'll be without Joe Musgrove throughout 2025, which leaves them with just three starters), Dylan Cease is a prime trade candidate if the Padres really are going to try to shed more payroll.

They certainly seem to be heading in that direction, as Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported that the Twins have expressed interest in a trade for Cease.

Tigers could swipe Dylan Cease from Twins in a trade with Padres

The Padres need starters, a catcher, and another outfielder at least (the Twins have reportedly offered catcher Christian Vázquez), and the Tigers do have a surplus of rookie outfielders. Neither Justyn-Henry Malloy nor Wenceel Pérez have been guaranteed spots on the Opening Day roster, but would be able to jump into action immediately in San Diego (on top of some prospect capital) from the Tigers in a potential trade for Cease.

The Tigers don't like to part with prospects, but the rotation still needs work, and Cease is still an incredibly productive pitcher. He was one of the top trade candidates during the offseason between 2023 and 2024, and the Padres gave up four prospects in order to get him to San Diego.

Robbing the Twins of a brand new ace also has obvious benefits. Although the Guardians are probably the favorites to top the AL Central next season, the second/third/fourth place spots will likely be a toss-up between Detroit, Minnesota, and Kansas City. If the Tigers could muster up enough courage to part with a few guys from the top of the pipeline, they could pull off a heist from right under the Twins' noses.

And they'd have one of the best 1-2 punches in the game with Tarik Skubal being backed by Cease, even if it's only for a year.