Update: Mark Feinsand of MLB.com is reporting Samuel Zavala, the Padres’ No. 7 prospect is also in the Cease trade going back to the White Sox.
Update: MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte are heading to Chicago in the deal. Both of these pitchers are expected to be ready for the majors this season per MLB.com and were the respective No. 5 and No. 8 prospects for the Padres.
The Chicago White Sox are finalizing a trade, sending starting pitcher Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres, per Jeff Passan. It will be interesting to see what San Diego is sending back to Chicago since a lot of its most prominent prospects went to the Washington Nationals when they acquired outfielder Juan Soto in 2022.
Cease’s name was swirling in trade talks all offseason, but with two weeks to go until the regular season, he is finally on the move. The Padres’ pitching staff was missing an ace as reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell was allowed to walk to free agency. Now, San Diego gets an ace that will be ready to go by the time they travel to Seoul, South Korea, to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers to begin the 2024 campaign on Wednesday, March 20. Cease started 33 games last year. He finished with a 7-9 record and a 4.58 ERA. He is just a year removed from a 14-8 record with a 2.20 ERA and a whopping 6.4 WAR.
While the Padres gain an ace, the White Sox lose theirs. Chicago will move forward with some combination of Michael Kopech, Michael Soroka, Erick Fedde, Jared Schuster and Chris Flexen in the rotation. Soroka and Schuster came over in a trade from the Atlanta Braves for reliever Aaron Bummer. Flexen and Crochet have spent time in the bullpen but could be called upon to eat up some starts while the White Sox figure out their rotation. Chicago could be acquiring a starting pitching prospect that they feel is Major League ready, or it could look to elevating someone like Nick Nastrini, who was already expected to get the call-up in 2024.
Cease was being drafted as the overall P38 or 96th overall in fantasy drafts, per FantasyPros’ ADP. The move to San Diego is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he will likely have to face the dangerous Los Angeles Dodgers lineup and the Arizona Diamondbacks in a tougher overall division. On the other hand, Cease will have a better lineup around him and a higher chance for more run support per outing. He was being selected after guys like Jesus Luzardo, Bobby Miller, Logan Gilbert and even Snell as a free agent. This change of scenery is likely enough to see him propel to the P17 range around where Aaron Nola and Framber Valdez are going.