Just seems kind of the dumb for the org’s mouthpiece to come out and say this when it sounds like nothing will ultimately happen here (at least not now).
As for the idea in general, I’m somewhat mixed on this. For a pitcher with the risk profile Cease has and having never made a single major league appearance, I’d want to buy at least two free agent year and preferably three. I’d also expect the fixed commitment to be fairly reasonable for this to make any sense.