Cubs Former Farmhand Finally Dealt, Ends Up With San Diego Padres
When the Chicago Cubs selected Dylan Cease in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB Draft, they likely had no idea that he would become one of the top starting pitchers in the game.
If they had known, then they probably wouldn't have included him in a deal with the Chicago White Sox that returned Jose Quintana in exchange for three other players and the future star.
When Marcus Stroman departed in free agency, the Cubs had a need at the top of their rotation.
There was some speculation that they might target their former farmhand, who the White Sox were looking to trade away all winter as they enter a rebuilding phase.
However, Chicago decided to sign Shota Imanaga, which closed the book on the possibility of them trading for Cease.
That was coupled with the White Sox seemingly being content with taking their ace into the season and waiting to deal him at the trade deadline.
When Jameson Taillon's injury popped up amidst rumors that the star right-hander was back on the block, his name was floated as a potential longshot replacement since he's on a cheap deal and has two more years under contract.
But again, nothing came to fruition, and now their former draft pick will be pitching for another team in Major League Baseball following the report from Jeff Passan of ESPN that he's been shipped to the San Diego Padres.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network first revealed the top prospects who were being sent back to the White Sox, before Bob Nightengale of USA Today announced the full package.
For Cease, the Padres traded away reliever Steven Wilson and three of their top 10 prospects in pitchers Drew Thorpe (No. 5) and Jairo Iriarte (No. 8), plus outfielder Samuel Zavala (No. 7).
No matter how great of a reunion story this might have been, the Cubs were never going to make a deal of this magnitude to land the ace.
