The Toronto Blue Jays were just two outs away from their first World Series championship in 32 years, and they don't appear to be satisfied. At least not based on the move they reportedly made Wednesday.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the deal for Cease is pending a physical, and that the contract will contain deferrals.
Now's as good of a time as any to look at what type of pitcher the Blue Jays are acquiring, how fits with Toronto, and the potential fantasy implications for the 2026 campaign.
What type of pitcher has Cease been?
A good one. For the most part. Cease was a sixth-round pick — although that 'low' of a draft slot had much more to do with financial terms than his ability — by the Cubs, and they traded the right-hander in the deal for Jose Quintana. After a so-so first two years with the Pale Hose, the right-hander led all of baseball with a 12.3 strikeout per nine inning rate in 2021 with a useable 3.91 ERA, but really stepped it up starting in 2022. He finished second in Cy Young balloting with a 2.20 ERA, 227/78 K/BB ratio and 1.10 WHIP, and while he disappointed in 2023 with a 4.55 ERA, he still was highly sought after on the market and was dealt to the Padres.
Cease finished fourth in Cy Young voting in his first season with San Diego, but his final year in the Gaslamp was a bit of a mixed bag. He did strike out 215 batters in his 168 innings while leading baseball in SO/9 for the second time, but it came with a 4.55 ERA and 1.32 WHIP.
For his career, Cease has a record of 65-58, a 3.88 ERA, and 1,231 strikeouts against 430 walks across 188 starts and 1015 1/3 frames.
What does Cease do best?
As you can probably guess, miss bats. Cease has just one season where he hasn't struck out more than a batter an inning, and it came in the truncated 2020 campaign. His average fastball velocity of 97 mph was the best of his career at the age of 29, and there's nothing to suggest that he won't able to throw his heater in that mid-to-high 90s range for the next couple of years at least.
But the reason Cease is routinely among the leaders in strikeouts is his secondary stuff, and in particular, his slider. In 2024 it was among the very best pitches in baseball with a run value of 25, and hitters swung and missed at the pitch 44.1 percent of the time while hitting just .159 against the offering. It wasn't quite as dominant in 2025, but he still generated an ever-so-impressive 44.2 percent whiff rate even while hitters saw their average bump up to .228 against it. Cease will also offering a knuckle curve, sweeper and change to hitters, but it's the devastating late break of the slider that gives hitters the feel-bads.
While Cease hasn't piled up the innings, he has been one of the more durable starters since joining baseball as well. The 2025 campaign was the fifth consecutive that he made at least 30 starts, and he's thrown at least 165 innings in each season since 2021.
Long story short, Cease is a hurler who is going to get the ball every fifth day, and he's going to pile up the punchouts doing so.
What has Cease struggled with in the past?
As noted above, while Cease has been able to take the mound on a consistent basis, he's never reached 200 innings, nor has he ranked among the top five among starters in the category. The reason for that is pretty simple: Cease has never been efficient, and walks have been a problem. He issued 71 of them in 2025, and that's the third time in four years he's walked at least 70 hitters. That self-inflicted damage can get any hurler even with elite punchout ability, and Cease has not been an exception as seen in ERA totals mentioned earlier.
And unfortunately, those command issues haven't just resulted in free passes. Cease had a less-than-desirable barrel rate of 9.8 percent in 2025, which ranks in the bottom 20th percentile of qualified starters. He's never given up more than 21 homers, but those roundtrippers add up when there's an extra batter or two on base because of the walks.
When Cease is at his best or even close, it's generally a good time. But fantasy managers who have rostered him over the past few years know that there are some clunkers, and he's the type of pitcher that you have to take some bitter with the better.
How Does Cease fit with the Blue Jays?
Quite well, but let's be honest, that would be true if we were saying any team outside of perhaps the Rockies. Cease will join a rotation that already has Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos; assuming Berríos is ready for the start of the season after missing the end of the year with an elbow injury. While he may not be the Opening Day starter, it seems likely that Cease will pitch near the top of that rotation, and he'll be backed up by the team that just missed on taking home a World Series title last year. There should be plenty of win chances for Cease in 2026.
Does this help or hurt Cease’s fantasy value for 2026?
It'd be hard to think this isn't a great fit from a fantasy perspective. Even if the Blue Jays are unable to bring back Bo Bichette, this is still one of the most talented rosters in baseball, and it's likely that Toronto isn't done adding whether they bring Bichette back or not. It's been a solid park for pitchers since the dimensions were altered, and while it's very likely that Cease will have a few starts that have you scratching your head/pulling your hair/both; the overall experience is generally a pleasant one. He should be one of the first dozen or so starters off the board in 2026, as the upside and ability to miss bats with the best of them is well worth the occasional down outing.
