Free agent starting pitcher Dylan Cease, who has made at least 32 starts in each of the past five seasons, has agreed to a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Wednesday.
With the deal, which is pending materialization, the Blue Jays join an already strong team that won the American League title and advanced to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deciding Game 7.
Cease, 29, has been a reliable front-line starter for the past five seasons, ranking fourth in the 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 stuff, there have also been disappointing seasons. In 2022 and 2024, Cease finished second and fourth in Cy Young voting, respectively, while going 28–19 with a 2.84 ERA. In 2023 and 2025, he went 15–21 with a 4.57 ERA.
Cease has vertically oriented movement due to his high slot, a fastball/breaking ball-heavy power approach (at least 80% fastball/slider for both righties and lefties), and a high walk rate paired with an occasional big whiff rate.
His slider in particular declined last year, from being the game’s most valuable player in runs batted in above average in 2024 to slugging .374 against opposing batters in 2025. Still, Cease is coming off a career-best strikeout rate of 29.8% and a fielding independent pitching score of 3.56, which is a slight improvement compared to his average from 2021 to 2024.
When those peripherals were combined with his age and the shortcomings of other available starters, they made him one of the most attractive pitchers in free agency.
Cease was made a qualifying offer of $22.025 million by the Padres, which he rejected by the November 18 deadline. Because he signed with a new team, San Diego will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round.
A sixth-round pick of the Chicago Cubs out of Georgia in 2014, Cease originally went to the neighboring Chicago White Sox with Eloy Jimenez in a 2017 trade headlined by Jose Quintana, then was acquired by the San Diego Padres for a package of prospects in March 2024.
In five years as a full-time starter from 2021 to 2025, Cease led the majors in strikeouts (1,106) as well as walks (361) and wild pitches (51).
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and Kiley McDaniel contributed to this report.
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