The Yankees have one fewer target in their quest for another rotation arm.
The San Diego Padres are acquiring righty Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed on Wednesday.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the deal, which will see right-hander Drew Thorpe, righty Jairo Iriarte, veteran reliever Steven Wilson and outfielder Samuel Zavala.
Cease, one of the top pitchers available on the trade market this offseason, was linked to several teams over the winter.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller said the teams started talking about a deal at the start of the offseason when there were reports the White Sox would listen to offers for Cease.
“He’s gotten Cy Young votes and consideration. He’s durable. He’s a power pitcher who can punch you out,” Preller said. “When you look at guys who can dominate a game or a season, he’s on a short list of guys who can do that.”
The Yankees were among the lead candidates along with the Giants and Rangers as recently as this week, with Gerrit Cole’s status uncertain as he was scheduled to meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache over concerns with his elbow.
Cease, 28, has long been aware of the chatter around him.
“It’s happened so many times in the past couple months, it really just feels like noise,” Cease said earlier Wednesday. “I definitely see what’s being said; people send me stuff and all that, but I feel like if I was really overly focused on that, it would be hard to perform. I just prioritize performance over everything else.”
The Padres, who traded Juan Soto to the Yankees over the winter in a deal that included Thorpe and Michael King, get two seasons of Cease, who is making $8 million this season and is under team control for 2025.
A runner up for the Cy Young Award in 2022, Cease saw his ERA balloon from 2.2 to 4.58 last season as the White Sox struggled.
Now, he’ll join a rotation headlined by Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, and King, with his spring training numbers portending well for a bounce back season that will begin in South Korea on March 20.
In 8 1/3 innings with the White Sox, he’s given up six hits and two runs, both homers, in three starts.
With Cease off the board, the Yankees may have to turn to the free agent market for reigning NL Cy Young Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, a former Bombers prospect who won a World Series with the Rangers last year.
— with AP