Blue Jays, Dylan Cease agree to 7-year, $210 million deal: sources
Right-hander Dylan Cease has agreed to a 7-year, $210 million deal with the Blue Jays, sources told AM850.
Free agent starting pitcher Dylan Ceasewho has made at least 32 starts in each of the last five seasons, signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jayssources told AM850’s Jeff Passan on Wednesday.
With the deal, which is pending a physical, the Blue Jays join an already formidable team that won the American League pennant and advanced to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Cease, 29, has been a reliable frontline starter over the past five seasons, ranking fourth in that span in pitcher WAR, ahead of Tarik Skubal, Max Fried and Framber Valdez.
The right-hander has alternated between dominant seasons and, given the quality of his repertoire, disappointing ones. In 2022 and 2024, Cease finished second and fourth in Cy Young voting, respectively, with a 28-19 record and a 2.84 ERA. In 2023 and 2025, he went 15-21 with a 4.57 ERA.
Cease has vertical movement thanks to his higher slot position, a fastball- and breaking-based power approach (at least 80% fastballs and sliders to right-handed and left-handed hitters), and a high walk rate, sometimes combined with a high strikeout rate.
His slider, in particular, declined last season, going from being baseball’s most valuable for runs above average in 2024 to slugging .374 against him in 2025. Still, Cease is coming off a career-best 29.8% strikeout rate and a fielding-independent pitching rating of 3.56, a slight improvement over his 2021 average. 2024.
These secondary aspects, along with his age and the deficiencies of the other available starters, made him one of the most attractive pitchers in free agency.
The Padres offered Cease a $22.025 million qualifying offer, which he rejected before the Nov. 18 deadline. Because he signed with a new team, San Diego will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2014 draft by the Chicago Cubs out of Georgia, Cease was originally traded to the neighboring Chicago White Sox along with Eloy Jiménez in a 2017 trade spearheaded by José Quintana. He was subsequently acquired by the San Diego Padres in exchange for a prospect package in March 2024.
In his five years as a full-time starter, from 2021 to 2025, Cease led the majors in strikeouts (1,106), but also in walks (361) and wild pitches (51).
AM850’s Alden Gonzalez and Kiley McDaniel contributed to this report.
