Padres land Cease in blockbuster with White Sox

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Padres finished Spring Training and left for Korea on Wednesday -- but not before pulling off a major late-spring blockbuster.

San Diego acquired White Sox ace right-hander Dylan Cease in exchange for four players, the Padres announced on Wednesday night.

The Padres will send three of their Top 10 prospects to the White Sox, along with righty reliever Steven Wilson. Here is the trade in full:

TRADE DETAILSPadres receive: RHP Dylan CeaseWhite Sox receive: RHP Drew Thorpe (MLB Pipeline's No. 85 prospect; SD No. 5), OF Samuel Zavala (SD No. 7), RHP Jairo Iriarte (SD No. 8), RHP Steven Wilson

Cease, who will earn $8 million this season, is under club contractual control through 2025.

Cease has posted a 3.83 ERA across five big league seasons, including a second-place finish in the American League Cy Young Award race in 2022. He's coming off a down year in which he notched a 4.58 ERA, though his peripheral numbers indicate he might've dealt with a bit of bad luck.

Cease bolsters the Padres' rotation in a big way. He'll slot in at the top, alongside right-handers Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, essentially replacing Blake Snell, who departed via free agency. Here’s how the San Diego rotation might line up to start the season:

Last year, the Padres’ rotation posted a Major League-best 3.69 ERA. But after losing Snell, Michael Wacha, Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo, the Padres planned to bolster that group over the winter. In the Juan Soto trade, they added four pieces -- King, Brito, Randy Vásquez and Thorpe.

Still, general manager A.J. Preller remained in search of that frontline arm that could turn his rotation into one of the sport’s best again. He appears to have found it in Cease.

It’s unclear when Cease will join the team and whether he will be able to do so in Korea, where the Padres are slated to open the season with two games against the Dodgers, March 20-21.

Thorpe, Zavala and Iriarte are all well-regarded prospects. Pitching in big league camp for the first time this spring, both Thorpe and Iriarte were excellent. Wilson, meanwhile, figured to serve as one of the team’s primary setup men. His absence leaves the bullpen somewhat thin.

But the Padres felt the price was worth it for an arm like Cease.

They entered the offseason riddled with rotation questions. As they boarded their buses for Korea outside the Peoria Sports Complex on Wednesday, those questions had been answered resoundingly.