THERE IS NO CASH IN THIS DEAL. Rays trade Morel and Pepiot to the Padres, the Padres trade Cease to the Orioles, and the Orioles send Kjerstad, prospects and their CBB pick to the Rays. This trade assumes the Padres want controllable pitching above all else in any trade of Cease, so the Rays send them 4 years of Pepiot (which could be 5 years if they send him down for 2 weeks during the season). The Rays also acknowledge they made a mistake trading for Morel and send him to the Padres on the cheap. If Morel works out for the Padres, then good for them (and him), but if he doesn't, it's no biggie. The Padres would be getting Morel almost for free. The Orioles get Cease for a trade package that doesn't include any of their top 5 prospects from this year or last year. If they can make that happen, it's a no brainer. Cease was nearly a 5 fWAR pitcher last year and he only costs about $14MM. For the Rays, they get two good COF prospects, with Kjerstad stepping into their lineup on day 1, plus a far off pitching prospect and a CBB pick. Best of all, the Rays don't really lose much from this year's team. We can quibble over Pepiot's future, but I think most Rays fans would agree that Pepiot and Littell are fairly comparable pitchers in 2025, and losing Morel is addition by subtraction.