We acquired some motion on the Scorching Range even with the MLB season quickly approaching. The Padres added 28-year-old right-hander Dylan Stop from the White Sox for 3 prospects and a veteran reliever. Stop was the AL Cy Younger runner-up in 2022 and leads all MLB pitchers with 97 begins over the previous three seasons. In that span, he’s posted a 3.54 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 11.4 strikeouts per 9 innings, which is why he was thought by many to be the highest pitcher in the marketplace.
So what will we make of this commerce?
White Sox commerce Dylan Stop to the Padres for Drew Thrope, Jairo Iriarte, Samuel Zavala, and Steven Wilson
For the final 24 hours, it felt as if it wasn’t a matter of if Dylan Stop could be traded this week however when. A deal between the White Sox and both the Rangers or Yankees appeared inevitable, after which the Padres got here in out of nowhere and stole Stop away simply eight hours earlier than their staff aircraft boards for Seoul to kick off their season in Korea towards the Dodgers.
Nicely, “stole” most likely isn’t the best phrase for the reason that Padres needed to half with three of their prime 10 organizational prospects, all of whom have been ranked inside the highest 100 prospects by varied scouting providers.
Earlier than we get to the prospects, we should always concentrate on the star of the present. Stop will now play out the ultimate two years of his present contract in San Diego, which is a much better scenario for him than on a fledgling staff in Chicago. For starters, he’s now on a playoff contender, which needs to be good for morale. He additionally strikes from the Seventeenth-most hitter-friendly park, based on Statcast Park Elements, to the Twenty ninth-best. That’s fairly excellent news for a pitcher. He’ll now pitch in entrance of an infield protection that ranked sixth in Statcast’s Outs Above Common final 12 months, in comparison with a White Sox protection that ranked twentieth. Nevertheless, the White Sox did have Nicky Lopez (9 OAA) taking on for Elvis Andrus (6 OAA) and Paul DeJong (9 OAA) taking on for Tim Anderson (-2 OAA), so their infield protection would possible have been a lot improved up the center.
There’s additionally an argument that Stop will transfer from one of many weakest offensive divisions to the most effective. Whereas groups now not face their very own division as a lot as they did previously, it can most definitely make for a more durable schedule. In reality, based on The Athletic, the White Sox have been set to have the Seventh-fewest video games towards groups with a successful file in 2023.
But, all of it’s possible a moot level for the reason that subject for Stop has by no means been the stadium he pitches in or the opponent he faces. The problem is command. Stop has among the finest uncooked stuff of any pitcher in baseball, however he usually has bother commanding it. The best-hander had a ten.1% stroll fee in 2023, which was his third double-digit stroll fee within the final three years. His 62% strike fee was under league common, as was his 41% zone fee and 15.5% known as strike fee. What’s extra, he allowed the worst Very best Contact Charge (Barrels + Strong Contact + Flares/Burner divided by batted ball occasions) of his profession, with a 43.2% fee that was 4% worse than the league common. He additionally had his lowest swinging strike fee and PutAway fee in three years.
If that continues, then it received’t matter how good the stadium he pitches in is or how good the infield protection is behind him. In the event you imagine that Stop will enhance his command this season, then this commerce boosts his worth, however in the event you have been skeptical that he might harness his arsenal then his worth doesn’t change a lot with this deal.
Relying on who you discuss to, both Drew Thorpe or Jairo Iriarte is the centerpiece of the return. The 23-year-old Thorpe was additionally the primary prospect who got here to San Diego from the Yankees together with Michael King and others within the deal for Juan Soto, so it’s curious that the Padres could be prepared to half with him so rapidly. The best-hander posted a stellar 2.52 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 182/38 Okay/BB ratio throughout 139 1/3 innings (23 begins) final season between Excessive-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in New York’s system. He was additionally ranked because the 73rd-best prospect general on FanGraphs pre-season Prime 100 and was ranked sixty fourth by ESPN together with being the 4th-best prospect in San Diego’s farm system. He options the most effective change-ups within the minor leagues, however his fastball is simply 92 mph, and there are some actual questions on the remainder of his arsenal. He’s basically MLB-ready now, however there have been rumors on Tuesday that the White Sox have been planning to signal Michael Lorenzen to fill Stop’s spot within the rotation, so it’s not but clear when the White Sox will give Thorpe an opportunity to crack the MLB roster.
Jairo Iriarte is a 22-year-old right-hander who ranked forward of Thorpe on FanGraph’s Prime 100, coming in at 61st general however was behind him on each ESPN and MLB Pipeline’s rankings. Nonetheless, he’s an intriguing prospect who pitched to a 3.49 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 128/45 Okay/BB ratio in 90.1 innings throughout Excessive-A and Double-A final 12 months. He incorporates a 96 mph fastball with 15” of vertical break and 6.8 ft of extension, each of that are above common. He additionally incorporates a slider that he added sweep to final 12 months and a change-up. Whereas the change-up is a piece in progress, the slider is a plus swing-and-miss pitch. There’s some concern that he’s simply 160 kilos on his 6’2″ body, however he has the arsenal to wind up a extra dynamic pitcher than Thorpe.
Samuel Zavala is the ultimate prospect piece headed again to the White Sox. Whereas he doesn’t function on any Prime 100 lists, he was the Ninth-ranked prospect within the San Diego system and the 18-year-old might simply discover himself inside the highest 100 by the top of this season. In 2023, he hit .267/.420/.451 in 101 video games in A ball with 14 HR, 71 RBI, 22 doubles, and 20 stolen bases. That’s a formidable line given his age on the degree, and his close to 20% stroll fee reveals an excellent really feel for the strike zone. Whereas there may be some concern about his future hit instrument, the outfielder stays younger and was as soon as regarded as one of many extra polished hitters within the decrease minors.
Steven Wilson is the final participant headed to the White Sox. The 29-year-old threw 53 innings out of the bullpen for the Padres in every of the final two years, posting a mixed 3.48 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 110/47 Okay/BB ratio in these 106 innings. He depends on his sweeper, which he throws 60% of the time, to restrict onerous contact however doesn’t miss many bats. His lack of strikeout upside makes it unlikely that he would issue into the late innings in Chicago however they don’t have many different choices and weirder issues have occurred.
window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({
appId : '402627290431349',
xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };
(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));