Toronto and right-handed starter Dylan Cease agreed to a seven-year, $210-million contract on Wednesday, Sportsnet can confirm.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman was first to report the deal.
It is the second-largest deal in the history of the franchise, behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $500-million extension.
Cease is coming off a down year in 2025 with the San Diego Padres, in which he posted a 4.55 ERA over 168 innings and 32 starts. However, his strikeout numbers remained among MLB’s best, as the righty punched out 215 hitters.
He ended up righting the ship in the playoffs, as Cease took the ball in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cubs and struck out five over 3.2 scoreless innings to help the Padres to a 3-0 win.
The 29-year-old is just one season removed from a top-five Cy Young finish. In 2024, Cease pitched to a 3.47 ERA over 189.1 frames for San Diego and went on to make two more post-season starts.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Cubs, Cease changed organizations twice before hitting free agency. The Cubs traded him across town to the White Sox in 2017 as part of a package for starter Jose Quintana. Then, after five MLB seasons on the south side, Cease was sent to the Padres.
Cease broke out with the White Sox in 2022, as he finished second in AL Cy Young voting after posting a 2.20 ERA and striking out 227 batters over 184 innings.
Since 2020, Cease leads all MLB pitchers in starts made with 174 and strikeouts with 1,150.
The Blue Jays’ rotation now could feature Cease along with Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios and/or Eric Lauer.
