Dylan Cease trade: Everything to know about the 3 top prospects White Sox acquired

On Wednesday night, Chicago White Sox fans got the dreaded news that they were waiting for all of-season long as they traded right-hander Dylan Cease to the Padres for right-hander Steven Wilson and three prospects, Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, and outfielder Samuel Zavala.

Of the four players they received in the trade, Wilson has been the only one to see any time at the major league level. The rest of the prospects Chicago is getting will provide depth to a minor league system that has been ranked 20th by MLB Pipeline.

What helped the White Sox rank higher than at the start of the 2023 season is that 17 of their top 30, according to MLB Pipeline, were not with the organization. Thanks to the MLB trade deadline, they were able to add much-needed arms to a system that lacked them.

Let's take a quick look at the prospects that Chicago acquired and how they will fit into the team's plans for the future.

1. RHP Drew Thorpe

The 6-4 212 pound right-hander was originally drafted by the Yankees in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Cal Poly. He was named the 2023 MiLB Pitching Prospect of the Year after leading the minor leagues in strikeouts with 182. Thorpe came over to San Diego in the Juan Soto deal a few months back.

He has a high 3/4 arm angle with a fastball that sits around 92-93 with a plus slider and changeup. Before being shutdown for the season, Thorpe showed that Double-A wasn't an issue, going 4-0 with an ERA of 1.48 in five starts, striking out 44 in 30.1 innings of work. He is off to a strong spring training appearance, allowing just three hits over seven innings of work so far. He could see some time in the major league level in 2024.

2. RHP Jairo Iriarte

Iriarte, who stands at 6-2, 180 pounds, rose up the prospect rankings in San Diego after an increase in his velocity on his fastball, which started to hit 97. Combine that with already plus change and a slider, and the results in 2023 were good. 90.1IP, 128 strikeouts, K per 9 of 12.8. The change looks really good, with late fade action on left-handed batters.

He still needs to work on his command, as he walked 4.5 per 9. He is an interesting arm because while the Padres started to use him in the bullpen when he got to Double-A, he has the ability to be a starter. If he can command all three of his pitches, he could be used as a backend starter. Regardless, this is another good arm Chicago picked up.

3. OF Samuel Zavala

The left-handed hitting outfielder, who turns 20 in July, is coming off a strong season primarily in Single-A, in which he hit .267/.420/.451 with 14 home runs, 71 RBI and 20 stolen bases. He has good speed and athleticism to handle centerfield.

The lanky 6-1 native of Caracas, Venezuela needs to cut down his strikeouts in order to advance beyond High-A as he does tend to struggle with high velocity as evident with a strikeout rate of 33% when he got promoted. Keep in mind it's only 14 games of work, but his bat to ball skills for his age are intriguing enough with a good swing path through the zone.