Is there a deal with San Diego possible that involves Cease for Nico +? He would fit there. He could play SS. Xander can play 2B. Cronenworth 1B. Arraez DH / 2B / possibly some LF since that looks like a weak spot for SD. Arraez hasn’t played LF much at all, and none since 2021, but in a SSS he was above average out there.
Im sure it doesn’t really work. Just spitballing. Adding Bregman and Cease definitely puts us over the tax or right there at it. Cease will make close to $2M more than Nico this year.
Look at me getting greedy lol. Conceivably if (and I know it’s not going to happen) Jed could pull that off, you could try to dump Jamo. Cease, Shota, Steele, Boyd, Rea, Birdsell, Wicks, Brown, Assad is better than that same rotation with Jamo instead of Cease. Obviously it would be even better with Cease AND Jamo, but in this scenario you still have a better overall rotation and Jamo’s $$$ off the books allowing you to get Bregman and Cease and stay under the tax.