MLB insiders believe Blue Jays’ Dylan Cease can do something ‘uncommon’ after $210M deal originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays made a lot of moves to bolster the roster, with the most noteworthy being the blockbuster $210 million signing of Dylan Cease.

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The former San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox righty starter is coming to the Blue Jays on a massive deal. History isn’t always on the side of pitchers signing bid-money deals, but Cease could be different.

In fact, as ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel found, Cease has the belief of multiple MLB scouts and executives that he could make a leap after this massive deal and turn into a sure-fire ace that he’s toyed with in years past.

MLB execs, scouts believe in Dylan Cease

“It’s not common for players to make a leap after getting a huge deal, but there was some optimism from evaluators I polled that it could be happening with Cease,” McDaniel writes.

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This is an interesting note from McDaniel on Cease, who was ranked seventh in Major League Baseball’s ace rankings by MLB scouts and executives.

What makes this belief so interesting is that Cease hasn’t once been an All-Star in his MLB career, which has spanned seven years. Cease finished as the runner-up in the 2022 Cy Young race and fourth in the 2024 Cy Young race.

But Cease hasn’t been able to become a clear-cut ace in the sport despite having flashes of greatness during his Padres and White Sox days.

More: How Blue Jays’ Kazuma Okamoto is connected to Rockies’ Tomoyuki Sugano

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He had a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts last season for the Padres and a 3.47 ERA in 33 starts in 2024. His 4.58 ERA in 2023 was far from ideal, as was his 4.39 ERA across the first three years of his career.

His 2022 season, when he had a 2.20 ERA in 32 starts with 6.4 bWAR, a 14-8 record, one shutout, and 227 strikeouts in 184 innings pitched, was the best year of his career.

Cease has shown ace-caliber potential, but he’s struggled to string together such seasons in a row, and truly break out into being an ace who’s worth trusting come the postseason.

But these MLB executives and scouts believe that such an uncommon breakout could be on the horizon for Cease. He’s flirted with being a bona fide ace, but now, with the Blue Jays, he could finally become the elite ace he’s capable of becoming.

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