The #BlueJays introduce Dylan Cease. The main question he had for Toronto’s staff throughout the process: “How would you help me maximize my potential and my ability?”
Dylan Cease: “It seemed from the get-go signing with the Blue Jays was inevitable”
Photo credit: © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Dec 9, 2025, 17:15 EST
Dylan Cease is officially a Toronto Blue Jay.
On Tuesday afternoon, the right-handed pitcher had his introductory press conference flanked by Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and his agent Scott Boras. If you missed the press conference, there were a few notable quotes from it.
When asked about why he signed with the Blue Jays, Cease noted that the biggest part was their World Series run and the fact the team still has championship calibre players. His biggest question for the team was “how could they help him maximize his potential”.
The Jays have a tendency of getting the best out of players. There’s no better example of that than Robbie Ray in 2021. Ray had a strong campaign in 2017, earning National League Cy Young votes, so the potential was always there. However, his ERA sat at 4.26 with a 4.12 FIP in the 842.1 innings he pitched before the 2021 season. Ray’s biggest concern to that point was his 11 BB%.
In his first full season with the Blue Jays, Ray posted a 2.84 ERA and 3.69 FIP in 193.1 innings pitched, with a 32.1 K% and 6.7 BB%. That led to him beating Gerrit Cole and Lance Lynn for the American League Cy Young Award.
There are a lot of similarities between Cease and Ray, albeit Cease has a much higher ceiling. Cease has already shown he’s capable of being a Cy Young calibre pitcher, finishing second in voting in 2022 and fourth in voting in 2024. While he’s finished with an ERA above 4.50 in two of the past three seasons, his FIP has sat 3.75 or lower since the 2021 season. That’s thanks to a hard fastball and great slider which generates a ton of whiffs and a ton of strikeouts.
The Blue Jays like their durable pitchers as well, and Cease has thrown tons of innings since entering the league. Like the 29-year-old said, this signing felt inevitable as it was a perfect match for both teams.
"They've proven they have championship-calibre players and obviously a good process." Dylan Cease on why he chose to sign with the Blue Jays.
It seems like Kevin Gausman played a role in that as well. Another big free agent signing by the Blue Jays in the 2020s, Gausman has gone on to find success with the Jays, including being their Game 1 starter for the American League Divisional and Championship Series.
According to Cease, he asked around and as you can imagine, there was nothing but positivity when it came to the city of Toronto and the organization that calls it home. It’s a world class city that cares about its players, with Boras even going as far to mention all of that.
Scott Boras on what has made the Blue Jays attractive to players: "They listen to what players wanted in amenities, what players wanted in technology to help them improve. ... The facilities, certainly in the player community, are held as best in class. They've set an example
Of course, there was interest from other teams around the league, how could there not be? Once he spoke to all interested parties, the pitcher instructed Boras to get a deal done with the Blue Jays, per his agent.
Cease said he spoke to Gausman about the Jays and Toronto: "As I asked around, no one had any negatives to say about it. The consensus has been, you're going to love the city, you're going to love the organization. It's as simple as that. There wasn't a negative."
It truly does seem like a match made in heaven. That said, they still aren’t done, as they need another bat and a high-leverage arm or two. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the rest of the off-season.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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