GLENDALE, Ariz. — General manager Chris Getz felt a threshold needed to be met for the Chicago White Sox to part ways with ace Dylan Cease.
“We had a multitude of conversations with many teams and certainly there’s been ebb and flow throughout the offseason,” Getz said during a videoconference call Thursday. “You’ve got teams that their needs are ever-changing, there’s free agency and up until (Wednesday) we didn’t feel like we had a deal on the table that we felt like met the mark.”
It came together Wednesday when the Sox traded Cease to the San Diego Padres for right-handed pitchers Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte and Steven Wilson and outfielder Samuel Zavala.
“It’s a little bittersweet having Dylan Cease out the door,” Getz said. “To watch him grow up, both as a person and as a player has been a joy for myself and the organization. But we felt like it was the right time to make this move to better our organization moving forward.”
Thorpe (No. 5), Zavala (No. 7) and Iriarte (No. 8) were ranked among the top-10 prospects in the Padres organization by MLB.com. Wilson has a 3.48 ERA in 102 career games (one start) during two major-league seasons.
“Three of these players have a very good opportunity to be on our 2024 team at some point,” Getz said. “Wilson pretty much plug-and-play with where he is in his career. You’ve got Drew Thorpe, who has more or less been knocking on the door, very polished.
“If you’re looking at Wilson, Thorpe, Iriarte, we think there’s a strong chance they’re going to be in our major-league team at some point. And then the addition of Zavala, obviously a very young player (19) and look forward to watching his growth throughout the year.”
Cease’s name was mentioned in trade speculation throughout the offseason. He tuned out the noise and had a strong spring with a 2.16 ERA and 14 strikeouts and 8 1/3 innings. As rumors swirled Tuesday, he struck out eight in 3⅓ innings against the Cincinnati Reds.
“He was very effective in his spring training outings, he looked very good,” Getz said. “His last outing with Cincinnati was an impressive one and there was a lot of buzz at that game. Unsurprisingly, shortly thereafter and into the following day, teams really stepped up, San Diego particularly.
“They’re on their way to Korea presently (to open the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 20) so there certainly was some urgency on their end. With all the different factors and everything kind of coming to a head yesterday, we felt like it was a good time to convert on that trade.”
Getz called the timing “kind of a perfect storm.”
“The million-dollar question of if you take this into the season, taking it toward the deadline, what type of return does that look like,” Getz said. “That’s a risk. Were we willing to take that? Of course I was willing to take it into the season. However there’s no denying that a lot of things could happen on a baseball field throughout a season. You weigh that risk with the offer that was given to us by San Diego and we felt like that was something that was likely not to be met if we would have taken it into the season.
“We had a highly motivated team in the San Diego Padres that wanted to start the year out with Dylan Cease. And I understood that. It made sense for both sides. I’m sure it’s a deal that’s going to help the San Diego Padres and I’m very confident it’s a deal that’s going to help the Chicago White Sox.”
The trade, along with Thursday’s announcement that Michael Kopech was heading to the bullpen, opens slots in a rotation that should include Michael Soroka, Erick Fedde and Chris Flexen.
“We actually feel pretty good with where we’re at in regards to being able to cover these innings effectively,” Getz said. “However there are some different ways that we could go about it to certainly make us more confident or improve our roster further and we’re going to sit down. We’ve got some time before opening day to really assess where we’re at and if there’s an opportunity to improve our status going in, we’re going to do so.”
Wednesday’s trade, like the offseason deals that sent reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves and Gregory Santos to the Seattle Mariners, aids in minor-league depth.
Thorpe had a 2.52 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 23 starts with Class A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in the New York Yankees system in 2023. Iriarte had a 3.49 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 27 games (21 starts) last season between Class A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio in the Padres system. Zavala spent most of the 2023 season at Class A Lake Elsinore in the Padres system, finishing with 14 homers, 71 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.
“Being able to get multiple high-ceiling players in a deal is significant for any organization,” Getz said. “And to get three upper-level arms that aren’t too far off from helping your major-league club was very enticing. There’s impact, there’s depth and there’s control that’s added to our organization, which certainly is going to provide a lot of value for us.”
