Shane Bieber would cost the Braves a LOT less than Dylan Cease
The elephant in the room in this discussion is whether or not the Braves would prefer trading for Dylan Cease instead of Bieber. The Braves have been connected to Cease throughout the early portion of the offseason and given the quality of his stuff and the extra year of team control Cease has, there is plenty of reason to prefer him over a guy like Bieber who could end up being just a rental.
Cost is going to be an important factor here, however. Bieber is going to end up making a bit more in terms of salary in 2024 given that this is his last arbitration year, but the difference is only a few million between the two guys. However, the cost to acquire Cease is going to vastly outpace what it is going to take to nab Bieber and that is an important consideration given Atlanta's limited minor league depth.
In terms of upside, Bieber and Cease are relatively close with Cease maybe having the edge because he throws harder. However, Cease has an extra year of team control which is going to make him quite a bit pricier especially when you factor in that it sounds like the White Sox are willing to wait a bit before moving Cease to try and get a better deal as teams get more desperate for starting pitching.
With Chicago playing hard to get and the number of teams that are in on Cease, Atlanta may find that trading for Bieber is a move they can get done more quickly (a preference that AA is known to have) while also costing a whole lot less than if they stayed in the Dylan Cease derby to the bitter end.