Sources: Jays, Cease reach 7-year, $210M deal

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, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. In five seasons as a full-time starter with the Padres from 2021 to 2025, Dylan Cease has led the major leagues in strikeouts (1,106) but also in walks (361) and wild pitches (51). A sixth-round pick from the 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 2024.