With the Red Sox heading into the offseason, they’ll need to address some potential exits from the team; one of them being star pitcher Lucas Giolito, who can opt out of his contract.

If he does, the Sox will have to look for a replacement. While trading for an elite pitcher to fill Walker Buehler’s hole is still a priority, Fansided’s Cody Williams believes the Sox could go for a free agent signing of former Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease.

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It might be a surprise that, among any of the free agent starting pitchers set to hit the open market, I’d land on Dylan Cease as the top option for Boston. One part of that, though, is the combination of potential price and how he fits the Red Sox and what they’ve been looking for…His FIP was still a solid 3.56, he still led the majors with an 11.5 K/9 rate, the velo is still 88th percentile on his fastball, and there are plenty of signs that, if the Red Sox pitching program could work with him, he could return to Cy Young-caliber form,” Williams wrote.

This season, Cease posted an ugly 4.55 ERA and 1.327 WHIP, but he still managed to get 215 strikeouts, and his aforementioned 11.5 K/9. If Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey gets a full offseason to work with him, the sky’s the limit.

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There’s also already proof Bailey and the staff do work well “reclaiming” pitchers; Giolito is a prime example. He had a year to train with the team during his injury, and he went from being mediocre to one of the best in baseball.

Hopefully, the Sox see their past success, and realize they could probably replicate it in Cease. They better get on it quick, as many other teams will try and pursue Cease as well.

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