Former Padres top prospect from Dylan Cease trade undergoing elbow surgery

While the San Diego Padres' roster is very close to being set for the stretch run, there is no denying that there have been a ton of moving parts for this team in 2024. Starting with the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees, there has been a steady stream of players coming and going in San Diego this year, with Drew Thorpe being among the more notable names not on the team anymore.

After acquiring Thorpe in the Soto trade, many just assumed that the Padres were going to call upon him at some point this season to beef up their rotation. However, AJ Preller instead did what AJ Preller does, and he shipped Thorpe to the White Sox in the Dylan Cease trade. To say that San Diego is probably happy with that acquisition is a gross understatement.

However, there is still the matter of how Thorpe, who was/is a standout pitching prospect, is doing with Chicago these days. Unfortunately, the news there is decidedly less great regarding the right-hander.

After making nine starts in the big leagues for one of the worst teams in recent memory, Thorpe's season is over after it was revealed that he needed surgery to repair a bone spur in his throwing elbow.

Former Padres pitching prospect Drew Thorpe to get season-ending bone spur surgery

Before the conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork, both the Padres and White Sox were likely aware that Thorpe had a bone spur in his throwing elbow. Bone spurs don't just magically appear out of nowhere as they take time to develop. San Diego likely saw that he had one, which made him more expendable, and Chicago almost certainly saw it during their medicals and still wanted to add him, believing in the long-term talent.

In a lot of ways, this works out well for Thorpe besides the fact that he has to play for the White Sox. Chicago is likely to challenge all-time records for futility in the final month of the season and Thorpe has had a bit of a rollercoaster rookie year that was likely to be partially affected by his injury. Having the surgery now when there is nothing on the line allows him to be ready to roll at the start of 2025 (and beyond) without hurting his team in the present. The White Sox cannot be hurt anymore than they have been.

Assuming all of that is true and both sides knew about Thorpe's potentially problematic elbow, this is another master class by Preller in extracting value while you can. We just saw him decide to boldly jump ship on prospect Dylan Lesko at the trade deadline to help overhaul the bullpen due to the former top prospect's struggles, further proving the GM knows how to turn prospect pedigree into MLB contributions.

More Padres News from Friars on Base