Written By: Michael Murray
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It finally happened. After months of speculation that the Chicago White Sox were looking to deal their ace Dylan Cease, the move finally happened last night in a blockbuster with the San Diego Padres. The full details of the trade are below:
Padres receive: RHP Dylan Cease
White Sox Receive: RHP Drew Thorpe, RHP Jairo Iriarte, OF Samuel Zavala, and RHP Steven Wilson
Let’s dive in and try and figure out which side won this deal.
San Diego Padres
For San Diego, this move came across as a bit puzzling. After falling woefully short of expectations in 2023, the Padres appeared as if they were getting ready to go in a new direction after trading Juan Soto to the Yankees and not resigning Blake Snell (at the time of this writing, Snell is still a FA, so he could still end up back in SD). After this deal, it seems as though they’re ready to dive right back in again, and from the looks of their rotation, it’s hard to blame them.
Padres 2024 Rotation (per FanGraphs Roster Resource)
- Dylan Cease, RHP
- Joe Musgrove, RHP
- Yu Darvish, RHP
- Michael King, RHP
- Jhony Brito, RHP
Is it the best rotation in baseball? No, but can it compete? I think so. While this trade may not put them back in the hunt to challenge the super team Dodgers for the NL west crown, I think adding a bonafide ace like Cease puts San Diego right back in the hunt for a wild card spot. The bigger key will be if bats like Xander Bogaerts, Machado, and Cronenworth can make up for the production of Soto, but that’s not why we’re here right now.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have a very long road ahead of them, and it unfortunately is not going to feature a lot of wins in the immediate future. Regardless, let’s look at the return that they got for Cease and see how it stacks up. We’ll focus solely on the prospect haul for the sake of this article, as Steven Wilson already has 100+ big league innings under his belt and serves as nothing more than a bullpen depth piece in this deal.
Drew Thorpe, RHP
Thorpe has put up insane numbers during his time so far in minor league baseball. While his fastball certainly won’t overpower hitters with velocity, his changeup is already a plus plus pitch and is trending towards being an elite pitch. He also features a slider that plays well off of the fastball and causes a lot of hitters to chase. In addition to his solid 3-pitch arsenal, Thorpe also exhibits great control on the bump, highlighted by his 11-2 K-BB ratio during his first full season at High-A. Mechanically, his delivery is a little choppy with a slight hitch of his hands before releasing from a true overhead arm slot. If he can smoothen out his delivery a bit, I think there’s more velo to be unlocked with the fastball and the potential for Thorpe to be a true top of the rotation starter.
Jairo Iriarte, RHP
The mechanics and the stuff are all there for Iriarte. His delivery is fluent and effortless, his fastball shows some arm side run and can play up in the zone, his slider breaks a ton and can be a super effective out pitch against righties, and his mechanics allow him to sell his changeup really well and create a lot of deception. The biggest knock for Iriarte is the control, as he’s walked anywhere from 4-6 guys per 9 innings during his time in MiLB. I think if he can stay a little more balanced on his follow through and not fall off so much towards 1B, he can pound the zone more effectively, but based on stuff alone, Iriarte should be a guy White Sox fans are excited to add to their farm system.
Samuel Zavala, OF
At only 19-years old, Zavala definitely projects as a power-over-hit guy who runs well and can swipe some bases. At the dish, Zavala has shown a good feel already for taking the ball the other way and never trying to do too much with any certain pitch. If he wants continued success as he makes his way through the minors, he is going to need to work on his mechanics a little bit and shorten things up. Currently his swing is long with a choppy bat path and his leg kick is VERY high and long. In A-ball, he can get away with it, but he won’t make it past AA if he can’t shorten up his load and work on his bat speed. This is a true flier for the White Sox, but the upside is 100% there in Zavala.
Grades
Padres: A-
White Sox: B
The success of the Padres will be the ultimate factor in deciding who won this deal. For the past few years, Padres fans have kept asking “is THIS the move that finally takes us to the top?” After acquiring Cease, the question is once again being asked, and only time will tell how they stack up in the NL against the likes of the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, etc.
For Chicago, I wouldn’t necessarily say they got fleeced, but the haul for Cease was definitely less than the Brewers haul for Corbin Burnes. But at the end of the day, they were able to get a return for a guy they had been trying to get off the payroll that featured two young minor league starters that hopefully slot well into the White Sox rebuild.
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