We haven’t even made it to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Opening Day yet, and the trade rumors are already beginning to circulate again. With San Diego Padres’ scouts reportedly on the ground keeping eyes on the Phillies’ camp, there are rumors of interest in starting pitcher Dylan Cease, from the Phillies and a number of other teams.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo, the Phillies are among a handful of teams that the Padres are scouting due to interest in Cease. That’s according to Ragazzo’s league sources, at least. The other teams that have shown interest and are being scouted include the NL East rival New York Mets, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs.

Phillies’ trade interest for Dylan Cease this season will depend on how their starting rotation looks in July

The Phillies aren’t in need of extra starting pitching at the moment after trading for left-hander Jesús Luzardo this winter. With a top rotation that features ace Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez and Luzardo, there’s no room in the starting five with training camp winding down. Injuries can change that in a hurry, and we know that Phillies president of baseball operation Dave Dombrowski is always turning over stones to do what he can to improve his ball club.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, it doesn’t sound like (subscription required) the Padres will be trading Cease before the regular season gets underway Stateside next week anyway.

Heading into his seventh MLB season, Cease went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 224 strikeouts in 189 1/3 innings in 2024 for San Diego. The 29-year-old finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting.

Perhaps the Phillies’ interest in the righty came before they landed Luzardo from the Miami Marlins in late December. Perhaps there has been continued interest in laying the groundwork for a potential trade deadline deal if the Padres fall out of contention by July 31 and the Phillies find themselves in need of another starting pitcher.

The Phillies’ starting pitching depth looks good in March, but a lot can happen between Opening Day and July.

As it stands, the Phillies have veteran right-hander Taijuan Walker looking like he’ll be the sixth starter if needed this season after impressing the coaching staff and front office with his turnaround this spring. He’ll begin the year in the bullpen but will be the first option to fill in the rotation.

The Phillies also have No. 1 prospect Andrew Painter on the way, with a July debut likely, barring any setbacks as he builds up in the minors. If Dombrowski finds himself looking for outside pitching help in July, with his team in a contending position as everyone expects, he “could dangle a number of top prospects in a deal for Cease,” as Ragazzo says.

The Phillies dealt a pair of pitching prospects at last season’s deadline for closer Carlos Estévez. They also sent a couple of Top 30 prospects to Miami for Luzardo this winter. Whether Dombrowski would feel comfortable enough trading more top prospects for a two-month rental is another question — especially with the Phillies on the verge of benefitting from the fruits of the revamped farm system.