Blue Jays Announce Historic Dylan Cease 7-Year Deal

By Patrick McAvoy

Contributing Sports Writer

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The Toronto Blue Jays officially have a new high-end starting pitcher at their disposal.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Wednesday that the Blue Jays agreed to a mammoth seven-year, $210 million deal with the 29-year-old ace. It took a few days, but the Blue Jays announced the deal themselves on Tuesday.

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This is no small feat. Now, it can officially be said that this is the largest free agent deal in Blue Jays history. Before signing Cease, the Blue Jays' six-year, $150 million deal with George Springer was the largest deal given by the team in free agency. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has the largest overall deal in team history at $500 million over 14 seasons, but that was not signed in free agency. It was an extension signed to avoid free agency entirely.

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The $210 million deal ties Corbin Burnes of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the fourth-largest contract by total value for just a pitcher -- excluding two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has the largest deal at $325 million, followed by Gerrit Cole and Max Fried of the New York Yankees at $324 million and $218 million, respectively.

Toronto made it clear out of the gate that it was looking for starting pitching after falling short in the World Series. Now it can be said that it officially got what it was looking for. This shouldn't end the Blue Jays' shopping, though. The next step should be adding a big bat.

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