The New York Yankees traded former Cal Poly starting pitcher Drew Thorpe in a deal that sent the former consensus All-American to the San Diego Padres in exchange for superstar outfielder Juan Soto, according to Jon Morosi.
The full deal includes Thorpe, relief pitcher Michael King, pitcher Jhony Brito, catcher Kyle Higashioka and reliever Randy Vazquez heading to San Diego in exchange for Soto and center fielder Trent Grisham.
During his Mustang career, Thorpe was the Friday starter for two of his three years at Cal Poly, where he earned an All-American award in 2022. He also was a finalist for National Pitcher of the Year, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, and became the first Mustang to win Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2022.
He pitched to the tune of a 2.32 ERA in his final year as a Mustang while setting a school record in strikeouts with 149 in 104.2 innings before being taken 61st overall by the Yankees in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Thorpe was one of three players from Cal Poly to be drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft with shortstop Brooks Lee going to the Twins at eighth overall and closer Jason Franks taken by the Braves with the 245th pick.
The 23-year-old was excellent in his first year in the minors, where he climbed to New York’s fifth-ranked prospect and the 99th-best prospect in MLB, according to MLB.com.
In his stint in the Yankees organization, he posted a 2.52 ERA through 139.1 total innings pitched while tacking on 182 total strikeouts across the High-A and Double-A levels. This resulted in a High-A All-Star award, and he was named MLB’s Minor League Prospect Pitcher of the Year.
Thorpe joins a Padres team that is currently thin at the starting pitcher position.