The biggest red flags with each of the Cardinals' starting pitching targets

Dylan Cease: Giving up too many valuable assets

While it's not a guarantee that Dylan Cease will be traded this offseason, it makes a lot of sense.

The White Sox are a mess right now and need to hit the reset button. Cease is their most valuable asset outside of Luis Robert, and capitalizing on his value would be wise for their rebuild.

I'm pretty concerned about his performance on the field this year, as a 4.85 ERA is not what you think of as an "ace" for your rotation. Cease is coming off a second-place Cy Young finish though, and has the stuff to get back to being "the guy" again. I also could see how the White Sox's situation season may have impacted his performance.

What would concern me most though is the price the White Sox may place on Cease. I doubt they would trade him without getting one of Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, or Lars Nootbaar in return, and honestly, it could take two of them or one of them plus a Tommy Edman type and other pieces. That's a huge price to pay for someone who's had this down of a year.

If the White Sox's asking price is lower than that, I think things get really interesting. But if it's going to take a haul to get Cease, that's a big risk to take.