The Toronto Blue Jays bolstered their starting rotation this winter in an effort to avenge last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their marquee signing was Dylan Cease, who signed a seven-year deal worth $210 million.
Cease, who spent the last two seasons of his career with the San Diego Padres, has always had a lot of potential. In a different organization with a different philosophy, he could really blossom into the pitcher everyone expected.
MLB insider Jeff Passan believes it’s likely, predicting Cease to finish second in the American League Cy Young voting this year.
“Dylan Cease finishes second in AL Cy Young voting,” Passan wrote for ESPN on Friday. “Fresh off a seven-year, $210 million free agent windfall, Cease joins a Blue Jays pitching machine that delights in taking raw stuff and molding it into something more. Cease always has been a stuff guy, and with a little bit of polish, his strikeout artistry has the potential to morph into something more. You don’t find many 30-year-olds with ceiling left. Cease has finished second for the Cy Young once before and is primed to do it again.”
The Blue Jays are going to trust Cease at the top of their rotation. Kevin Gausman is the ace, but Cease will be right behind him. As Passan noted, his age could prohibit him taking any more steps forward, but the writing is on the wall for him to be a late bloomer. Toronto is going to give him every opportunity to pitch like he did in 2022, his final season with the Chicago White Sox, where he picked up his first second-place finish in the A.L. Cy Young voting.
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