Dylan Cease Traded to Padres; White Sox Land Drew Thorpe, Samuel Zavala, More

The San Diego Padres bolstered their rotation by acquiring Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Right-handed pitcher Drew Thorpe (Padres' No. 5 prospect, per MLB.com), outfielder Samuel Zavala (No. 7) and right-handed pitchers Jairo Iriarte (No. 8) and Steven Wilson will go to Chicago in the deal.

ESPN's Jeff Passan first reported the deal, with Jon Morosi of Fox Sports and Jon Heyman of the New York Post providing additional details.

Going into his first full season as White Sox general manager, Chris Getz seems to have acknowledged the franchise needed an overhaul. He declined Tim Anderson's option for 2024, traded reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves for a package of five players and has now dealt their best pitcher in the middle of his prime.

Cease is coming off a down year in which he posted a 4.58 ERA in a career-high 33 starts. It was his worst ERA in a season since he was a rookie in 2019 (5.79).

The main issue that has caused Cease problems throughout his career is a lack of command. His 4.0 walks per nine innings and 79 total walks ranked in the bottom five among all qualified starters in 2023.

Cease has never walked fewer than 3.7 batters per nine innings in a season in his career. Combine that with allowing a career-high 8.7 hits per nine innings last season, and it explains why he wasn't able to maintain the form that made him a star in 2022.

But the upside is absolutely there for Cease to be one of the best pitchers in MLB again. He's one of the best strikeout artists in the game with at least 10.0 punchouts per nine in four of his first five seasons.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Cease has the fourth-highest strikeout rate in MLB (11.4). The only pitchers ahead of him are Spencer Strider (13.6), Blake Snell (11.9) and Carlos Rodón (11.7).

Cease has struck out at least 200 hitters in each of the past three seasons. Another part of his problems in 2023 was something he had no control over. The White Sox had a bottom-six defense by outs above average and runs prevented.

Playing with a better defense behind him should instantly lead to improved results for Cease. He's only one year removed from finishing second in AL Cy Young voting.

The Padres also get the benefit of having Cease under control for two seasons before he is eligible for free agency after the 2025 campaign. He's been one of the best pitchers in MLB for the past three years and can be a true difference-maker in a pennant race.

Even though it's hard to give up on a top-of-the-rotation starter with multiple years of team control left in the prime of his career, the White Sox needed a hard reset after missing the playoffs in each of the past two years and losing 101 games in 2023.

The return for Cease adds a lot more high-upside talent to Chicago's farm system. Getz still has a lot of work to do building a full roster capable of competing for a playoff spot, but this is a strong start for the first-year general manager.

The group of Blake Snell, Nick Martinez, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha pitched a total of 571 innings last season for the Padres. Lugo, Martinez and Wacha left to join different teams in free agency.

Snell is still a free agent and could potentially return to San Diego, but there's no indication the team is looking to bring back the 2023 NL Cy Young winner.

San Diego did target pitching when it traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees. The deal brought back Michael King and Jhony Brito, who combined for 195 innings last season, to the Padres.

Still, the rotation was lacking a true ace-level starter who can give the Padres a chance to compete in a division that figures to be dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cease will immediately step in as the best pitcher on San Diego's staff. His control issues are a bit reminiscent of what Snell's, but he's got a much stronger track record of durability and overpowering stuff to be a huge difference-maker.

Meanwhile, Chicago will receive three of San Diego's top prospects.

Thorpe was one of five players acquired by the Padres in the Juan Soto trade with the Yankees in December. The 23-year-old went 14-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 23 starts between High-A and Double-A in 2023. He recorded 182 strikeouts in 139.1 innings.

Zavala, a 19-year-old outfielder, hit .243/.391/.406 between Single-A and High-A last year.

As for Iriarte, the 22-year-old right-hander went 3-4 with a 3.49 ERA in 27 outings (including 21 starts) between High-A and Double-A in 2023. He logged 128 strikeouts in 90.1 innings.

Wilson has made 102 appearances (including one start) for the Padres since the start of the 2022 season, posting a 3.91 ERA in 52 outings. He struck out 57 batters in 53 innings for San Diego last season.