Pitcher Dylan Cease made the first big splash of the MLB off-season when he signed a seven-year deal worth $210 million with the Toronto Blue Jays in November.
Cease joined OverDrive on TSN1050 on Monday to discuss what went into him deciding to sign with the Blue Jays and his outlook for the future with the team.
“For me, it’s the business,” Cease said of his decision to sign with Toronto. “How are they going to develop and help me be the most consistent player I can be? And then, does the team have a good chance of winning every year? And the Blue Jays pretty easily checked all of those boxes.”
Coming off a season in which the Blue Jays won 94 games (most in the American League) and represented the A.L. in the World Series, ultimately falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 11th inning of Game 7, Toronto has firmly established itself as a competitive franchise.
Part of the formula for Toronto’s success in recent history (playoff berths in four the past six seasons) has been the coaching staff’s ability to work with pitchers to maximize their value and contributions.
Recent success stories include Robbie Ray (acquired via trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2020 season, set career highs in earned-run average and strikeouts in 2021 as part of a Cy Young-winning campaign), Yusei Kikuchi (career-best 3.86 ERA in his second season with the team in 2023) and Ross Stripling (career bests in ERA (3.01) and innings pitched (134.1) in 2022, two years after being acquired from the Dodgers in a trade).
Those three are prominent examples of players pitching coach Pete Walker and the Blue Jays staff were able to extract stronger results out of – and not always with the same formula. It’s a major reason why Cease chose Toronto and is confident in what he can accomplish as a member of the staff.
“It’s honestly really impressive,” Cease said of the Blue Jays’ pitch during negotiations. “They show you how if you change your grip with this pitch, you can get this kind of movement, and – I can’t get in to too much detail here with you but – they can basically, with how you release the ball and different things that you do, they can tell you ‘Hey, we can add this pitch, do this or that, or we think we can improve what’s already there, or we can help you change your mechanics, things like that.”
Cease already has a well-established track record pitching in the majors. The seven-year veteran has two top-five finishes in Cy Young voting over his past four seasons, and has eclipsed 200 strikeouts in five consecutive years – only the 21st pitcher to accomplish that feat in MLB history.
The ability to take that a step further with the help of the staff in Toronto was a major draw.
“At a high level, when you start winning within the margins and you start being more consistent with things like that and you have people behind that will maximize [your stuff], that’s what it’s all about,” Cease said.
“So I was pretty blown away by what they’ve got on the development side, and that’s important to me. I have been around for a while but if you’re not willing to evolve and continue to learn and grow in the game it’s going to pass you by. I really want to be a consistent, top-end pitcher, not one year great, one year average, one year great.”
The other component that sold Cease on the Blue Jays was the strength of the clubhouse.
Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, who is known for his fiery personality, was just one of many players who were vocal in their love of playing for the team this past season. “I love getting to be in this clubhouse with all these guys,” Scherzer said during the team’s run in the postseason. “I’m having just as much fun at 41 as I ever have in my career.”
Cease noted that those were sentiments he heard around the league when discussing potentially joining the Blue Jays’ clubhouse.
“That’s all I heard about it [was that it’s a great clubhouse], and that’s important,” Cease said. “There wasn’t a negative thing about the organization in general that I heard, and on top of that, to hear that the clubhouse was as strong and together as it was, it makes sense. They almost won the World Series, I think the proof is in the pudding.”
Cease’s goal this season in joining a tight-knit clubhouse is to let his actions speak louder than any potential words he may share in the locker room.
“For me to add to it is just being myself, assimilating into the culture and not trying to make things about myself,” Cease said. “Really just trying to play in the mindset and the sense of sacrificing for the team and doing what needs to be done. It’s really that simple – I don’t want thing to be about me, I just want to perform and do my job well.”
At the end of the day, though, the focus for Cease will always come back to winning.
The 29-year-old has never won a playoff start, and owns a ghastly 8.74 ERA in the postseason. In his final season with the Chicago White Sox before joining the San Diego Padres, Cease endured a 61-101 campaign in 2023.
“At the end of the day, I want to perform and win. And this is a team and a culture that is built on that,” said Cease.