The top free-agent pitcher is now off the market. Right-handed starter Dylan Cease -- MLB.com's No. 7-ranked free agent and the top hurler in the 2025-26 class -- has agreed to a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Blue Jays , a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Wednesday. The club has not confirmed the news.

Here is a breakdown of this move from all angles, via MLB.com experts:

Why did the Blue Jays make this move?

Via Blue Jays beat writer Keegan Matheson

Cease, who turns 30 in late December, gives the Blue Jays a top-of-the-rotation starter to build around while they chase the World Series they fell so painfully short of just four weeks ago. One of the game’s more durable starters, Cease has pitched more than 160 innings in each of the past five seasons, showing the same

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