Rosenthal: What I’m hearing about trade talks for White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease

Early Tuesday, I heard the Texas Rangers might be close to acquiring Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease. The tip turned out not to be true, at least at that moment, but two sources briefed on the talks confirmed the teams engaged in recent discussions.

Which makes sense. There are growing indications that the White Sox are getting more serious about trading Cease. And the Rangers will begin their championship defense in 2024 with a patchwork starting staff.

As a Rangers person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Have you seen our rotation in the first half?”

That rotation currently projects to include Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford. Not terrible. But ideally the Rangers would add a top-of-the-rotation type as they await the returns of three injured starters — Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle — around or after the All-Star break.

In the early part of the offseason, the Rangers’ choice figured to be free-agent left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who after arriving at the trade deadline played a pivotal role during the team’s march to its first World Series title. But ownership balked, seemingly due to uncertainty over future local television revenues.

One might question that stance, considering the Rangers should generate massive revenues this season as they reap the benefits from winning the Series and prepare to host the 2024 All-Star Game. But Cease, earning $8 million with another year of arbitration eligibility remaining, is a better financial fit than Montgomery.

If healthy, a second-half rotation that included Cease, Eovaldi, deGrom and Scherzer not only would make the Rangers strong favorites to win the AL West, but also significantly improve their chances of becoming the first back-to-back Series champions since the 1998 to 2000 New York Yankees.

The Dallas Morning News reported that White Sox scouts have “descended in droves” upon Rangers camp this week. Multiple members of the White Sox’s front office have scouted the San Diego Padres in similar fashion, sources said.

The question for the Rangers is whether they would be willing to meet the White Sox’s desired return, which according to sources is in the range of these three players, if not them specifically: utility man Ezequiel Durán and pitching prospects Brock Porter and Jack Leiter.

Jack Leiter is one of the names being discussed in a possible prospect package in exchange for Dylan Cease. (Joe Camporeale / USA Today)

Durán, 24, emerged as a valuable piece with the Rangers last season, batting .276 with a .768 OPS and playing six different positions. Porter, 20, is the team’s No. 5 prospect, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. Leiter, 23, was the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, but has yet to meet expectations. Law ranked him the Rangers’ No. 14 prospect.

When presented with those names, a rival executive not involved in the Cease discussions described the potential…