The Boston Red Sox are interested in trading for San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network, who provided further context on that note:

Soon after Morosi's post, the Yankees reportedly agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract with former Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The Red Sox were readying an offer to ex-Baltimore Orioles ace Corbin Burnes as of Tuesday afternoon, per Sean McAdam of Mass Live.

But if Burnes heads elsewhere, then attention will reportedly go to Cease.

Cease, who turns 29 years old on Dec. 28, has pitched six MLB seasons (five with the Chicago White Sox, one with San Diego).

Last year, Cease finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting. He went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA (1.07 WHIP), striking out 224 batters over 189.1 innings (33 starts). Cease has struck out at least 214 batters in each of his last four seasons.

He's under team control for one more season before becoming eligible for free agency in 2026.

However, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com mentioned Cease as a pitcher "potentially available" on the trade market this year, alongside some other names.

Morosi ballparked the odds of a Cease trade.

The Cease-Red Sox connection could be all for naught if the Sox land Burnes, of course. McAdam said that Burnes has also been "linked" to the Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and other teams. He also noted Burnes "could sign rather quickly with Fried off the board."

So we may see some movement soon here as teams quickly make their moves on acquiring high-quality starting pitchers.