San Diego Padres DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday that there are "growing indications" that the Chicago White Sox are more serious about trading starting pitcher Dylan Cease, and that the Texas Rangers may have been in recent discussions. The reigning World Series champions currently have several key injured rotation pieces and also lost Jordan Montgomery to free agency, so bringing in a pitcher like Cease would greatly help them. While he has yielded varying results throughout his career, Cease still projects as a higher-end fantasy option. Joining the Rangers would certainly give his fantasy value a relative boost.

The New York Yankees, while awaiting news on right-hander Gerrit Cole's elbow, have re-engaged the Chicago White Sox and made a new trade proposal for ace Dylan Cease. However, the new offer once again didn't include prized outfield prospect Spencer Jones, so it's unclear if the White Sox will seriously consider it. Cole is now unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, and he could miss extended time, depending on what further tests on his elbow reveal. The 28-year-old Cease would give the Yankees another weapon at the top of their starting rotation. If he remains in Chicago, Cease is expected to start on Opening Day on March 28 as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing year in 2023 after finishing second in the AL Cy Young voting in 2022. Cease has plenty of strikeout upside for fantasy managers and would become even more attractive if he were wearing pinstripes in the Bronx.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish (elbow) has been named the Opening Day starter in Seoul, Korea, against the Dodgers. Right-hander Tyler Glasnow will oppose him. The 37-year-old's 2023 season was cut short when he underwent surgery to address elbow inflammation. However, he has looked good this spring, pitching 9 1/3 innings with a 2.89 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and 10 strikeouts. Darvish's fantasy value has fluctuated over the past several seasons. Fantasy managers will be hoping he can both stay healthy and find his strikeout stuff for 2024. For DFS purposes to kick off the year, Darvish will be one to avoid.

Chicago Cubs non-roster invitee and outfielder David Peralta is expected to make his spring debut with his new club on Tuesday. The 36-year-old had flexor tendon surgery in the offseason and signed a minor league deal with the club. He played his first several seasons in the majors with the Diamondbacks and the last year and a half with the Dodgers. He had a somewhat productive campaign in 2023 as a part-time player, but he's a long way from his best and most fantasy-relevant season of 2018 where he had a .368 WOBA and 130 wRC+.

After a slow start to the spring season, Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez got going on Friday in a 3-1 Grapefruit League loss to the New York Mets. The 2x batting champ went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. It was a welcome sight after the 26-year-old went 1-for-16 (.063) to begin the spring, but just like that, he's 4-for-19 (.211). The 2x All-Star's value is in his ability to collect loads of hits, as he doesn't hit for much power and doesn't pile up the counting stats despite how often he gets on base. Look for him to pile up the hits again in 2024 as he's one of the best, if not the best, in all of baseball at making contact. He's a much better points league option than roto, however.