Before the Padres departed for Korea, they agreed to a blockbuster deal with the White Sox. In the trade, the Padres acquired Dylan Cease, who finished 2nd in the 2022 AL Cy Young voting. At the same time, the White Sox got 3 prospects and pitcher Steven Wilson. This trade is certainly a huge move for the Padres. While reading the news about this trade, I began to think about a question.
A.J. Preller became the Padres general manager in August 2014. As the head of baseball operations of the Padres, does Preller often make trades with the White Sox? If so, are those trades win-win trades?
Well, since Preller joined the Padres, they haven’t made so many trades with the White Sox. By far, the Padres only made 2 trades with White Sox since August 2014.
The first trade between the Padres and the White Sox under Preller’s leadership was a huge one, certainly.
Back in June 2016, the Padres sent James Shields and cash to the White Sox. Meanwhile, the Padres received Fernando Tatis Jr. and Erik Johnson from the White Sox. After the trade, James Shields threw 436 innings for the White Sox, posting a 5.31 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Well, Shields’ time with the White Sox didn’t look good. For the Padres, receiving Fernando Tatis Jr., who was a prospect, looks like a good decision. Tatis Jr. made it into the big leagues in 2019. So far in his career, he hits .281/.354/.542 with 111 home runs and 286 RBI. Tatis Jr. was selected to the All-Star game in 2021. Moreover, Erik Johnson made 4 starts for the Padres in 2016, posting a 9.15 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP over 19.2 innings.
The second trade that Preller made with the White Sox is the trade that just happened a few weeks ago. This time, things are a bit different. The Padres sent 3 top 10 prospects to the White Sox. And the White Sox acquired Steven Wilson, who made 52 relief appearances for the Padres, posting a 3.91 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP over 53 innings in 2023.
By far this season, Dylan Cease made 4 starts for the Padres. He owned a 1.99 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP over 22.2 innings. Opponents’ batting average against Cease was below .200. At the same time, Steven Wilson made 7 relief appearances for the White Sox, posting a 1.29 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP through 7 innings.
Looking at the trades, it’s not so easy to judge if the trade is a good one or a bad one in a few weeks. In particular, if there are prospects involved in a trade, it will really take some time to review whether a trade is a win-win one. In the trade with the White Sox in 2016, the Padres acquired Fernando Tatis Jr. and Tatis Jr. has become a star player for the Padres. Well, Tatis Jr. missed some playing time due to injuries and PED suspension. But he's certainly an important hitter in the Padres lineup. This time, the Padres acquired Dylan Cease to enhance the rotation and the White Sox received 3 prospects. It will be very interesting to see whether those prospects will make it into the big leagues. Additionally, Dylan Cease has been pitching well for the Padres thus far. It will be worth watching if he will continue his great performance in the rest of the season.
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