The Blue Jays are going to sign Dylan Cease, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It will be a seven-year, $210MM deal. There are some deferrals, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, though the details of the deferrals haven’t been publicly reported. Though the Jays gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500MM extension, this will be the largest free agent signing in franchise history, surpassing George Springer’s six-year, $150MM deal.
Cease, 30 next month, entered free agency as a test case of how much modern front offices care about earned run average. In two of the past three seasons, his ERA has jumped to the mid-4.00s, including a 4.55 mark in 2025.
However, in just about every other respect, he has been great. He has been incredibly durable. His control isn’t amazing but he has racked up strikeouts. He has kept his fastball velocity in the upper 90s, while also featuring a slider, knuckle curve and changeup.
Though Cease debuted back in 2019, he has actually never been on the major league injured list, apart from a very brief stint on the COVID list in 2021. He made 12 starts in the shortened 2020 season and has taken the ball at least 32 times in each full season since. In total, he’s made 174 starts since the start of 2020, which leads all major league pitchers. He generally doesn’t pitch deep into games, however, so he’s ninth in that span in terms of innings.
More to come.
