Padres acquire Cease in deal with White Sox
The San Diego Padres acquired right-hander Dylan Cease in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday for reliever Steven Wilson and three prospects: right-handers Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, and outfielder Samuel Zavala.
Cease, who turned 28 in December, was second in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 after going 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA. He went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA last year for a White Sox team that went 61-101.
He agreed in January to an $8 million, one-year contract and is eligible for free agency after the 2025 World Series.
Cease is 43-35 with a 3.83 ERA in 123 major league starts over five seasons, striking out 792 and walking 79 in 658 innings. He has a 2.16 ERA over 8 1/3 innings in three spring training starts this year.
He averaged 95.6 mph with his fastball last season, throwing it on 43% of his pitches. He also throws a slider (39%), curveball (15%) and splitter (3%).
San Diego is coming off a disappointing season. Favored to contend for the postseason with a team-record opening day payroll of almost $258 million, the Padres skidded to an 82-80 record and missed the playoffs. San Diego traded star outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Yankees in December.
Cease joins a rotation that includes Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. The Padres play the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea, in their season opener next Wednesday.
Wilson, a 29-year-old right-hander, made his big league debut in April 2022. He was 1-2 with a 3.91 ERA last year in 52 relief appearances, striking out 57 and walking 27 in 53 innings. He is 5-4 with a 3.48 ERA in 102 games over two seasons.
Thorpe is rated the Padres' No. 5 prospect by MLB.com. The 23-year-old pitcher was selected in the second round of the 2022 amateur draft and was acquired by the Padres from the Yankees in the Soto trade. He went 14-2 with a 2.52 ERA at Class A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset last season, striking
out 182 and walking 38 in 139 1/3 innings.
Zavala, San Diego's No. 7 prospect, turns 20 in July. He hit .243 with 14 homers, 77 RBIs and 21 stolen bases last year for Class A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne.
Iriarte, the No. 8 prospect, is a 22-year-old who was 3-4 with a 3.49 ERA last year for Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio, striking out 128 and walking 45 in 90 1/3 innings.
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