Dylan Cease opens up on decision to join Blue Jays on $210M contract

Money didn't solely drive Dylan Cease's decision to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency. The Blue Jays checked every box Cease valued most, making the decision easy for the right-handed pitcher.

Cease, one of the best strikeout pitchers right now, signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Blue Jays on Dec. 2. The 29-year-old righty opened up about his major career decision on Monday's episode of "JD Bunkis podcast."

"I had just essentially told him (Agent Scott Boras) that I want to be with a team that has a chance to win every year," Cease said (Timestamp: 56:48)."They don't have to even pitch me on that. You know, I know they can. They just almost did it."

The Blue Jays reached the World Series last season, losing to the Dodgers. The agonizingly came close as they led 3-2 after five games. Moreover, they led 4-2 by the end of the seventh innings of Game 7 before the Dodgers fought back to win in extra innings.

"And then I want to be I wanted a team that could develop me and help me be more consistent," he added. "I was really impressed with their pitching side of things and kind of what they had for me and what they thought I could improve on."

Cease admitted the business realities, but clarified they weren't decisive on their own. He said the Blue Jays aggressively pursued him, and the decision to sign with them was simple. The righty pitcher also said that the Blue Jays are committed to winning, having retained and acquired talented players.

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Dylan Cease shares details of conversation with the Blue Jays

In the same interview with JD Bunkis on his podcast, Dylan Cease disclosed that the Blue Jays discussed matters related to his pitching arsenal. Cease shared brief details about it upon Bunkis's insistence.

"I don't know how into details I can get with that," Dylan Cease said (Timestamp: 59:33). "It was discussed. You know, ways to increase what I've already have was discussed. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited. Yeah, adding a new pitch, even if it's just an average pitch, you can go for strikes, makes you a better pitcher." "So I have a lot of faith in them," he added. "I was really impressed with what they had for me, and I think it's going to be a really fun season."

Dylan Cease has not yet been an MLB All-Star. However, Cease was the runner-up behind Justin Verlander in the 2022 AL Cy Young voting. He came up fourth in the 2024 NL Cy Young voting. He was 22nd in the MVP voting both years.

Edited by Safeer M S