Winners and Losers from the Blockbuster Dylan Cease Trade to Padres | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

The Texas Rangers were also in the mix to land him from Chicago, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He quoted a Rangers person who offered a telling summary as to why: "Have you seen our rotation in the first half?"

Indeed. With Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle not due back from injuries until the second half, Texas' rotation will be Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney and then two question marks that, for now, take the forms of Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford.

Partly because of this, the reigning World Series champions might not be first or even second in the pecking order for this year's AL West title. Per FanGraphs, those slots are occupied by the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.