MLB insider hints that the Padres may have bid against themselves for Dylan Cease

Given how the San Diego Padres offseason had been going, it was certainly jarring to see AJ Preller go out and trade for Dylan Cease. It is certainly possible that the team realized that this Padres roster could be better than they expected and, given Preller's aggressive inclinations, they just couldn't help but try to go for it.

However, what was particularly eye-opening was the price the Padres paid to land Cease. Giving up a guy in Drew Thorpe who would have done a lot of good in San Diego's rotation himself, along with Jairo Iriarte and Samuel Zavala, two high ceiling prospects in their own right, was a hefty cost to pay for a team that was basically in the middle of a roster teardown a couple months ago.

As it turns out, the Padres may have been bidding against themselves for Cease, if MLB insider Jim Bowden is to be believed. From a process perspective, that leaves a lot to be desired.

More evidence emerges that the Padres may have overpaid for Dylan Cease

On the surface, the prospect package the Padres sent to the White Sox for Cease was just the price that had to be paid. Chicago had been posturing all offseason that they were more than happy to keep Cease if their price tag wasn't met. It would be easy to assume in a vacuum that the Padres just did what they felt they had to do to land the impact starter.

However, a closer look at the rumor mill suggests that San Diego may have jumped the gun by paying the "strongest package by a lot". For example, the Rangers were also involved in the Cease bidding late in the process, and the reported package Texas would have sent seems much lighter than what the Padres gave. That team was, purportedly, still very much in the running. The Yankees got in on the fun as well once Gerrit Cole got hurt, but they still refused to include Spencer Jones in their offer.

What is unknown is how the White Sox responded to the Rangers' and Yankees' overtures beyond obviously stating plainly, "We like the Padres' offer better." Maybe the rumored packages were leaked by those teams to gauge the public response or to pressure the White Sox. However, a slightly educated guess seems to be that AJ Preller wanted to close the deal before the team played in Korea no matter what it took -- including dealing on the White Sox's terms.

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