The Padres can thank the Yankees for helping them bolster their rotation.
San Diego included pitching prospect Drew Thorpe, whom it acquired from the Yankees in the Juan Soto trade, to land righty Dylan Cease from the White Sox in a four-for-one swap.
The ironic part for the Yankees is they certainly could use Thorpe, either to have helped acquire Cease or as insurance while Gerrit Cole is sidelined, although there are certainly no complaints about adding Soto.
Thorpe emerged as a top pitching prospect entering this offseason, ranking 85th in MLB.com’s prospect list, so it’s not surprising he would be an attractive piece in two mega deals.
He first got sent from the Yankees to the Padres in December when the Yankees relied on their pitching depth to land Soto in hopes of galvanizing a dormant lineup.
It hurt the Yankees to lose Thorpe, a 2022 second-round pick, but the Yankees did not let he nor Michael King stand in the way of adding Soto.
The Yankees were among the teams interested in acquiring Cease — and their need for starting pitching has grown significantly with Cole missing at least 1 to 2 months of the season with an elbow issue.
After losing Thorpe, King and two other pitchers in the Soto deal, the Yankees did not have the same level of reserves to withstand another blow.
Instead, the Padres, who can never be counted out of a deal under aggressive President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller, decided to flip Thorpe’s cost-controlled years to acquire a potential ace.
The Padres are hoping their stout rotation can fuel a return to the playoffs after last year’s disappointment.
Cease went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA for the White Sox last year, but in 2022 he finished second in the AL Cy Young voting while posting a 2.20 ERA.
Thorpe, meanwhile, may have the chance to crack the White Sox’s rotation this season during what is expected to be a rebuilding year for the South Siders.
The 23-year-old went 14-2 with a spanning Single-A and Double-A last year, although only five of those appearances happened at the higher level.
It’s logical to expect he starts the season in the minors, perhaps in Double-A.
