Late yesterday, the White Sox traded Dylan Cease in exchange for right-handers Steven Wilson, Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, and outfielder Samuel Zavala from the Padres.
Prior to the trade, our friends over at Friars on Base back in January suggested there was speculation about the potential return the White Sox could expect, with a few players that the Padres might need to include top pitching prospects such as Dylan Lesko and Thorpe, along with power-hitting prospect Nathan Martorella and right-hander Garrett Hawkins.
While we gave the trade a B-, let's look deeper at the haul the White Sox received.
1. RHP Drew Thorpe
This marks the second time that Thorpe has been traded over the last six months, as he was one of the players that came over in the Juan Soto deal.
Thorpe, who was the 2023 MiLB Pitcher of the year, features a fastball, slider, and a change up. His fastball sits around 92-93, with good riding action on lefties and plus command.
His delivery is a high, mid 3-4 arm angle and shows consistency in pounding the strike zone. As Future Sox indicated, with his fastball velocity sitting that low, that could be considered as a red flag but with the movement on his other pitches, this allowed him to rack up the strikeouts last season (182. in 139.1 IP, K per 9 of 13.05) He will more than likely start the season at Double-A Birmingham.
5.2 3R, 1BB, 10K and his 2nd AA start- 6.2 IP, 2R, 1BB, 12K's. pic.twitter.com/eENwSlQhpC
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) March 14, 2024
2. RHP Jairo Iriarte
Iriarte is from Venezuela, who stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 200 pounds. He signed with the Padres for $75,000 in 2018 and is 22 years old.
Watching him pitch in West Michigan in 2023, Iriarte quickly demonstrated he really wasn't going to spend time in High-A. He throws a fastball that saw an increase in velocity (95-97), a slider and a changeup. The slider is a great weapon against lefties with sharp movement and high spin rate.
When he got the call-up to Double-A, San Diego put him in the bullpen to see how he would adjust. It will be interesting to see how Chicago will use Iriarte but given the starter depth, it could be possible he could start the season in the rotation, if he can get his command issues down.
White Sox got a very impressive pitching package for Dylan Cease. Drew Thorpe is the more known arm, but Jairo Iriarte had a 15.6-SO9 at AA!!!
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) March 14, 2024
Definitely still a work in progress, but White Sox fans should be pretty content 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/gIgtyzfUmb
3. RHP Steven Wilson
Wilson will go right into the bullpen as he will be entering his third season in the majors. He throws a four-seamer, slider and a changeup from time to time. It gives the White Sox a good veteran presence.
4. OF Samuel Zavala
The "lottery ticket" of the haul, Zavala put up a good season in Low-A Lake Elisnore, showing his speed (20 stolen bases) and hitting .267/.420/.451 with an OPS of .871. There is some sort of power there, hitting 14 home runs but he could continue to grow into his body, standing at 6'1, 175 and not turning 20 years old until July. For his age, he is doing well but Chicago is hopeful he can adjust to High-A.
Does this trade benefit Chicago long-term?
As we discussed on if they had gotten a better haul from the Yankees, I don't think the White Sox likely would not have gotten a better deal from the Yankees, considering the players involved and their fit within the organization. The Yankees have been hesitant on trading their bigger name prospects and with this deal to San Diego, it provides what the White Sox needed the most and that is arms with upside that they can continue to develop.