Get past the sticker shock: Dylan Cease just agreed to a seven-year contract with the Blue Jays that will pay him $210 million. And he's totally worth it.

Yes, he's coming off a season where he posted a 4.55 ERA, his second season with an ERA north of 4.50 in the past three seasons. Yes, he can be maddeningly inconsistent even in the best of times, locked as he seemingly is, in a neverending battle between the quality of his stuff (some of the best in baseball) and the quality of his command (not some of the best in baseball).

But we know ERA isn't all that matters. We know, for instance, that Cease's underlying metrics suggest he deserved much better than he got in 2025. Take your pick of your favorite metric: His xERA was 3.46, and that accounts for the quality of contact he g

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