An offseason of Dylan Cease rumors has come to an end. The Chicago White Sox traded their right-handed ace to the San Diego Padres, the two teams announced Wednesday.
The Padres acquired Cease and trumped the Texas Rangers by agreeing to part with a steep package of prospects Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte and Samuel Zavala and reliever Steven Wilson.
The deal is the latest stunning move by Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who is one of the game’s best eyes for young talent, and often willing to trade it.
Welcome to San Diego, Dylan!
We have acquired RHP Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox. Details: https://t.co/iN6rWqtJpq pic.twitter.com/jOXgCgXys4
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 14, 2024
Cease, 28, will join a San Diego rotation that already includes Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Michael King. Jhony Brito and Matt Waldron now figure to battle for the fifth spot. King and Brito were two of the players the Padres acquired from the New York Yankees in the trade for Juan Soto.
The defending World Series champion Rangers also were deep in discussions for Cease as they await the returns of three injured pitchers — Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle — around or after the All-Star break.
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The White Sox in recent days had scouted both the Rangers and Padres’ systems heavily. Cease’s appeal, beyond his pitching skill, is that he is under club control for two more seasons. He will earn $8 million in 2024 and is again eligible for arbitration in 2025. King, too, is under control through ’25, while Musgrove is signed through ’27 and Darvish through ’28.
In 2022, Cease’s breakthrough season, he went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA, finishing second to Houston’s Justin Verlander in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Cease wasn’t as effective in ’23, going 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA. But executives around the league continue to view him as a potential ace.
Wilson, 29, was projected to be one of the Padres’ leverage relievers after logging a 3.48 ERA over his first two major-league seasons. The right-hander originally prompted San Diego to put him on the 40-man roster after a successful stint closing in the Dominican Winter League, and he could earn save opportunities with the White Sox.
Zavala, Thorpe and Iriarte were Keith Law’s Nos. 6, 7 and 9 prospects in the Padres organization.
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Zavala, 19, hit .267 with 14 home runs across Low A and Double A last season while competing against mostly older players. Thorpe was the top Yankees prospect acquired for Soto in the December trade; had he stayed in the organization, Thorpe might have been the Padres’ first call-up this season from an upper-level rotation. Iriarte, meanwhile, was perhaps San Diego’s fastest-rising pitching prospect, impressing scouts this spring with an upper-90s fastball and promising secondary pitches.
The Padres did not part with Law’s fourth- and fifth-ranked prospects, according to league sources; the White Sox also asked about left-hander Robby Snelling and outfielder Dillon Head, league sources said.
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(Photo: Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)