The Toronto Blue Jays have plenty of talent, but after a season that never really caught fire, one name stands out as the clearest piece to build around: Dylan Cease.
That wasn’t the expectation when Toronto stunned the league in December by giving Cease a seven-year, $210 million deal, the biggest free-agent contract in franchise history. He was coming off a rough year with the San Diego Padres, one that included a 4.55 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP and a career-high 21 home runs allowed.
The stuff was never in question. The next step was getting everything to click.
This season, it did.
Cease posted his best numbers since 2022, going 11-6 with a 2.40 ERA across 29 starts. He gave up just 11 home runs, the fewest he’s allowed in any season, and piled up a career-best 239 strikeouts. The payoff was immediate: he made his first All-Star team and looked every bit like the front-line starter Toronto believed it was getting.
Now the Blue Jays have to do the rest of the work around him.
The rotation is the obvious place to start. Toronto has already solved the hardest part by finding its ace, but the group behind Cease still needs serious attention.
Several starters are set to hit unrestricted free agency, which leaves Jose Soriano and Trey Yesavage as the next two names in line. After that, general manager Ross Atkins still has to fill out the final two spots.
Cease can’t fix an offense that struggled, and Toronto’s lineup still has questions. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remains the face of the franchise, but his season-long slump makes the conversation around him more complicated than it used to be. Kazuma Okamoto is another name in the mix after launching 33 home runs and driving in 92 runs in his first major league season.
Even with those issues hanging over the roster, Cease is the player Toronto should feel best about. The Blue Jays still have plenty to sort through, but their new ace is the one piece that already looks like a foundation. Atkins’ next moves should be about finding more players who match the winning identity Cease brought to the mound this season.
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Blue Jays Face A Vladimir Guerrero Jr Decision They Can't Miss
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.s 2026 season left the Blue Jays with a bigger question than they expected to be asking so soon. A player who had long been counted on as the middle-of-the-order anchor finished with a sharply reduced power output, and the drop-off was stark enough to force Toronto to take a hard look at where things stand heading into the offseason.
For the Blue Jays, this is not just about one down year. It is about whether Guerrero can get back to the kind of impact that once made him look like one of the leagues most reliable run producers, because that answer could shape how aggressively the club moves around him this winter. The organization has to decide how much faith to place in a rebound before it starts making larger roster choices. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Need One Big Outfield Answer After Offensive Collapse
After a season in which the Blue Jays finished last in several key offensive categories, the front office enters the winter with a clear priority: find ways to score more often and take pressure off a pitching staff that did plenty of heavy lifting. General manager Ross Atkins is expected to look for help, and the outfield is one of the places where Toronto can most obviously try to raise its ceiling.
The uncertainty only adds to the urgency. George Springer may be nearing the end of his career, while Anthony Santander and Addison Barger are both trying to rebound after injury-hit seasons, leaving the lineup with too many questions and not enough certainty. Toronto does not need a marginal tweak here, it needs an answer that can stabilize the group and help lift a lineup that fell flat too often. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Suddenly Have A Risky Second Base Decision To Make
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One name that has surfaced in that conversation is Jazz Chisholm Jr., a player whose power-speed mix would certainly fit the profile of an upgrade if Toronto decided to shop in the higher end of the market. The appeal is obvious, but so are the questions, because Chisholm is a pending free agent with a track record that comes with real upside and real risk, and there is no sign yet that the Blue Jays are actually pushing hard in that direction. [Read more 🡒]