Texas Rangers Trade Target Dylan Cease Headed To San Diego Padres

Dylan Cease is not headed to Arlington. Or the Bronx.

The Chicago White Sox traded the right-hander to the San Diego Padres for four prospects, including two of the Padres' top 10 prospects, according to multiple reports.

Cease, who finished second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022, has been targeted by the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees in recent days, but the Padres secured the deal by sending right-handed pitching prospects Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, outfielder Samuel Zavala, and 29-year-old right-hander Steven Wilson to the White Sox, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, ESPN's Jeff Passan, and USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Thorpe and Iriarte are rated as the Nos. 5 and 8 prospects in the Padres system.

Cease, 28, struggled in 2023, going 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA in 33 starts for the 81-81 White Sox. 

In 2021 and 2022, Cease was one of the top pitchers in the American League. He finished second to the Houston Astros' Justin Verlander in the AL Cy Young voting in 2022. Between 2021-22, Cease was 27-15 with a 3.01 ERA and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings over nearly 350 innings.

Cease was a sixth-round pick out of high school for the Chicago Cubs in the 2014 MLB Draft.

The Cubs traded Cease, along with three other players, to the White Sox for left-hander José Quintana in July 2017. Cease made his MLB debut in 2019.

Cease has made at least 32 starts in the past three seasons and led the league with 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings in 2021.

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