logo
Opportunity to join ‘championship-calibre team’ drew Dylan Cease to Blue Jays
alt
Photo credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Dec 10, 2025, 12:30 ESTUpdated: Dec 10, 2025, 12:25 EST
Comments
Many wondered what impact the Toronto Blue Jays’ magical run to the World Series would have on the organization’s ability to attract free agents this off-season. Well, wonder no more.
Over the past few off-seasons, they had fallen into the narrative of being a bridesmaid but never the bride, coming up short in their pursuits of marquee free agents like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and several others. Winning, of course, is often the best medicine for ailments such as that one — which had been grossly exaggerated anyway. After a 20-win increase from 2024, followed by the deepest post-season run in over three decades, the rest of the industry has now been put on notice.
The Blue Jays are all-in on returning to the Fall Classic in 2026, and they’ve made those intentions well known with their aggressiveness this winter.
A big part of that aggressiveness led them to Dylan Cease, who was officially introduced at the winter meetings Tuesday afternoon after signing the richest contract (seven years, $210 million) for a free agent in franchise history. He quickly became the organization’s top priority, and they “knocked it out of the park” in selling him on joining Canada’s team.
As arguably the best starting pitcher available in free agency, Cease drew several interested suitors, but none stood out as well as the Blue Jays did. They left an early impression that made the 29-year-old hurler believe signing north of the border was “inevitable” from the start.
Nothing impressed Cease more than Toronto’s first World Series appearance in 32 years. Granted, he didn’t take in much of the post-season after the San Diego Padres were eliminated in the NL wild-card round by the Chicago Cubs. But he did watch Game 7 between the Blue Jays and Dodgers, which reinforced his belief in their make-up as a “championship-calibre team.”
“The biggest part really was being able to be a part of a championship team,” Cease said during Tuesday’s introductory press conference at the winter meetings in Orlando, Fla. “Obviously with the run last year, they’ve proven that they have championship-calibre players and obviously a good process. That was probably the number one thing.”
The Blue Jays also presented Cease with a plan on how to transform him into one of baseball’s true aces. Not just for one season, like he’s shown flashes of before, finishing second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022 and fourth in NL voting two seasons ago. But to unlock his full potential over multiple seasons and make him a consistent front-of-the-rotation starter.
Before signing on the dotted line, the durable, high-strikeout right-hander did his due diligence and asked around about the franchise’s background and the city of Toronto. He even reached out to Kevin Gausman — with the duo now leading the club’s rotation — and his final decision became even easier once the positive responses started pouring in.
“Honestly, 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,” Cease said.
“It was pretty simple, pretty easy, pretty straightforward.”
From Toronto’s initial Zoom call with Cease to when his reported signing first circulated on social media, the deal came together fairly quickly with his camp and was agreed upon within “roughly a week,” manager John Schneider revealed during his media availability on Tuesday.
The chance to acquire a pitcher of his elite calibre, someone the franchise has long admired from afar, wasn’t a possibility they were going to let slip through their fingers.
“We’ve been in love with his stuff for a while, and I think there’s a real opportunity for him to kind of continue to get better with what we can offer him,” Schneider said of adding Cease to his club’s rotation.
Cease said he’s still in the early stages of connecting with his new teammates and creating relationships with Toronto’s staff. But he has already heard from outfielder/designated hitter George Springer, who reached out to him shortly after his signing became official.
Most of the introductions will likely transpire once Cease arrives at the player development complex in Dunedin, Fla., for spring training in a few months. He plans to keep things simple, not trying to place increased pressure and expectations on himself or the team. All he’s focused on is giving “everything I have” to help the Blue Jays defend their AL crown next season.

Featured

News

Breaking News