The Toronto Blue Jays, fresh off its first American League Pennant since 1993, was under a lot of pressure to have a successful offseason.

The Blue Jays were just one win away from the third World Series in franchise history and have been in the running for elite free agents the last several seasons, including back-to-back National League MVP Shohei Ohtani and superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

At the beginning of the month, Toronto made its first big splash of the offseason and signed starting pitcher Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million deal.

Bringing in Cease allowed the Blue Jays coverage in its starting rotation for the next several seasons, which will be important next offseason when fellow starters Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber hit free agency.

On Tuesday, Toronto hosted an introductory press conference for Cease, who explained his reasoning for signing with the Canadian organization.

"The biggest part really was being able to be a part of a championship team," Cease said in the news conference. "Obviously with the run last year, they've proven that they have championship-caliber players and obviously a good process. That was probably the No. 1 thing and from there, it was also how they help me maximize (my skills) and develop. Basically reach my potential more often, that was important to me. That was probably the second biggest consideration. It seemed from the get-go that it was going to be pretty inevitable."

Cease is coming off an up-and-down past two seasons with the San Diego Padres.

In 2024, Cease posted a 3.47 ERA with 229 strikeouts in 189.1 innings pitched across 33 starts.

This past year, Cease had a 4.55 ERA and fanned 215 batters in 168 innings across 32 starts.

Despite his mixed surface numbers, Cease's underlying numbers remained solid. He had a chase rate of 31%, whiff rate of 33.4% and strikeout rate of 29.8%, which ranked in the 80th percentile, 95th percentile and 89th percentile of baseball, respectively, according to Baseball Savant.

This past season was the second in a row Cease was in the 70th percentile or better in all three aforementioned metrics.

Cease also hasn't allowed an opposing batting average better than .250 since his rookie season with the Chicago White Sox in 2019.

Cease will likely have a chance to earn the Blue Jays' Opening Day starter role in 2026. He'll be in the mix with Gausman and 2025 rookie phenom Trey Yesavage.

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