Breaking: 28-year old hottest names on the market this offseason reject Yankees trade offer…….

The Padres finalized a trade to acquire the former White Sox ace in exchange for 3 prospects and a reliever

Right-hander Dylan Cease has found a new home. The San Diego Padres are finalizing a deal to acquire the right-hander from the Chicago White Sox, sources confirmed Wednesday to Yahoo Sports.

Cease has been one of the hottest names on the market this offseason, and over the past month, Chicago received renewed interest from teams looking to make a major splash ahead of Opening Day.

In return for Cease, the White Sox will receive pitching prospects Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, outfield prospect Samuel Zavala and reliever Steven Wilson, according to multiple media reports. MLB Pipeline ranks Thorpe as the No. 5 prospect in San Diego’s system, Zavala as No. 7 and Iriarte as No. 8.

Last season, Cease went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA for the White Sox, but his 3.72 FIP shows that the hard-throwing righty was better than his numbers indicated. He displayed much sharper form in 2022, when he posted a 2.20 ERA with 227 strikeouts over 32 starts and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting.

The trade for Cease takes care of a huge void for San Diego, which needed someone to fill the No. 1 role in the rotation following the presumed departure of NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell in free agency. Not only does this move give the Padres a new ace, but it also allows right-handers Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Michael King to slot back in the San Diego rotation. That said, there remains plenty of room for concern about this rotation, given Cease’s backslide in 2023, Musgrove’s injury issues last season and the fact that Darvish is now 37.

As for the White Sox, they have been looking to re-stack the deck since last season, and new general manager Chris Getz hasn’t wasted any time in trying to get his ballclub turned around. In Thorpe, who was part of the Juan Soto trade, Iriarte, Zavala and Wilson, Chicago receives four young, controllable assets in return for the two years remaining on Cease’s contract, a valuable swap at the beginning of an ugly rebuild. Seeing as Chicago had little expectation of contending in 2024, trading Cease now made far more sense than holding on to him until this summer’s deadline or next winter.

Arguably the biggest losers in San Diego’s trade for Cease are the New York Yankees. Yahoo Sports reported last month that New York was continuing to have conversations with Chicago about Cease. And in light of the uncertainty around 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, who is headed to Los Angeles this week to visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache and have his right elbow examined, those conversations began to intensify.

Cole’s injury and the Yankees’ increased pursuit of Cease might’ve been the last straw Padres GM AJ Preller needed to pull the trigger on this move for a new ace. Cease isn’t a free agent until 2026, so Preller now has two full seasons to negotiate an extension before Cease hits the open market.

The Padres open their season March 20 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea. What that means for Cease is unclear. The team was scheduled to travel Wednesday ahead of the two-game set, with Darvish and Musgrove already named the probable San Diego starters for those games.

Here’s what the White Sox received from the Padres for Dylan Cease: reports

Here’s what the White Sox received from the Padres for Dylan Cease: reports originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The White Sox traded Dylan Cease to the Padres on Wednesday evening. The trade was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

In return, the White Sox received pitching prospects Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, who are the No. 5 and No. 8 prospects in the Padres’ system, according to multiple reports. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi was the first to report the return.

In addition, the White Sox are getting 29-year-old reliever Steven Wilson and 19-year-old outfielder Samuel Zavala, the latter of which is the No. 7 prospect in the Padres’ system.

Thorpe, 23, is the No. 85 prospect on MLB.com’s top 100 list. He made 18 starts in High-A and five starts in Double-A. Between both levels, he pitched 139.1 innings, recording a combined 2.52 ERA. At Double-A, he pitched a perfect 4-0 pitching record, earning a 1.48 ERA. The Padres received Thorpe as part of the Juan Soto trade to the Yankees.

Iriarte, 22, like Thorpe, played for both High-A and Double-A last season. He pitched 14 starts in High-A, recording a 3.10 ERA in 61 innings pitched. In 13 appearances in Double-A, he made seven starts. There, he finished with a 4.30 ERA from 29.1 innings.

Wilson has pitched two seasons in the majors with the Padres. Last season, he finished with a 3.91 ERA from 53 innings in relief. He struck out 57 batters and walked 27.

And finally, Zavala, 19, is the Padres’ No. 7 prospect in their system. He went between the Padres’ Low-A and High-A affiliates in 2023. Between both, he hit .243 from the plate with a .797 OPS. He hit 14 home runs and 77 RBIs last season.

The trade rumors involving Cease have swelled since the offseason began. It’s well-documented that newly promoted general manager Chris Getz has held a high price for Cease, too, asking for multiple prospects in return for the White Sox’s ace.

Recently, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the White Sox were getting “more serious” about Cease in trade talks. The South Side had recently engaged in talks with the Texas Rangers, as they await three starters to return to their rotation from injuries. Rosenthal also mentioned the Yankees and Padres as potential trade destinations for Cease.

The rumors have gone on for months. Yet Cease, who’s been pitching for the Sox in spring training, isn’t focused on the noise at this moment.

“At this point, it’s happened so many times over the past couple of months that it really kinda feels like noise. But I definitely see what’s being said. People send me stuff and all that. But I don’t know, I feel like if I was overly focused on that it would be hard to perform, so I just prioritize performance over everything else really.”

In spring training, Cease has been dominant. Just over eight innings pitched, Cease’s ERA stands at 2.16. Against the Reds, in a dominant 14-1 win, Cease pitched 3.1 innings, allowing just one run.

Previously, multiple reports showed the White Sox likely planned to wait until the MLB trade deadline to restart talks with Cease. But he admitted his performance this spring likely contributed to trade talks heating up again.

“Yeah, I think the way I’ve pitched this spring has probably increased (the chances of a trade) a little bit,” Cease said. “I’ve been really locked in. It really just depends. I think if we’re in a spot– assuming I’m still with the team– where at the deadline we’re either in first or hunting for first, I could see me not getting traded. There’s obviously the business side where in a lot of scenarios (a trade) would make sense.

“But crazier things have happened. Nothing’s written in stone.”

Until now. The White Sox’s ace is a Padre. The new Padres rotation is now highlighted by Cease, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Michael King. Jhony Brito and Matt Waldron figure to compete for the final spot in their rotation.