Free agent starting pitcher Dylan Cease, who has made at least 32 starts in each of the past five seasons, has reached 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 a physical, the Blue Jays add to 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 a deciding Game 7.
Cease, 29, has been a reliable front-line starter for the past five seasons, ranking fourth in that span in pitcher WAR, ahead of Tarik Skubal, Max Fried and Framber Valdez.
Chicago Cubs out of Georgia in 2014, Cease originally went to the neighboring Chicago White Sox alongside 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 of 2024.
In 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).
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and Kiley McDaniel contributed to this report.
