How Do We Feel About the Cubs Not Signing Dylan Cease? ...Middle East

Happy Thanksgiving. Let’s talk ball … by which I mean Dylan Cease, the Cubs, and what they didn’t do last night.

Last night, the Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent starter Dylan Cease to what was initially reported as a seven-year, $210 million deal. I say “initially” because deferrals bring the value down closer to seven years and $182M.

And I bring THAT up not to argue with those of you who remain resistant to the fact that deferrals are a material difference in the real value of a contract (so much so that their value-drag is literally codified into the CBA by way of the luxury tax calculation), but because it’s a better frame of reference for how we feel about what the Cubs didn’t do. Spoiler alert: I’m not sweating this one too much, even though I did really want Dylan Cease on the Cubs in 2026.

Dylan Cease is Not on the Cubs

It’s true, Cease was one of the most exciting, realistic targets for the Cubs this winter. His tantalizing (albeit rarely achieved?) upside and profile as a hard-throwing, bat-missing, 30+ start making righty fit very well into the Cubs rotation in theory. And not to make you feel worse, but I had heard that both he and the Cubs had mutual interest in a reunion before he signed with the Blue Jays.

But when I saw the initial $210M report, I thought “Well, there’s no way the Cubs were EVER going to match that … and I’m not sure they should have!” But knowing the value is some $30M less than that initial number, my feelings shift. That’s still a touch high for what Dylan Cease has actually accomplished, but it’s far closer to the general expectation of the industry and that much closer to something the Cubs could have more seriously considered given his upside.

Still, I’m not sweating it.

The Blue Jays undoubtedly have some extra cash on hand after the deepest possible postseason run you can make without actually winning the World Series, they just gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr. half a billion, and they got Shane Bieber to re-up on an exceedingly team-friendly deal for 2026. It’s not surprising that they were the high bidder here, deferrals or not (…Cubs’ cheapness or not).

And in the meantime, the Cubs still have a TON of options available to them. Here are just some of the free agent starters left on the board, and their projected price tag via MLB Trade Rumors:

For a little context on those contractual guesses, MLBTR projected a 7-year, $189M contract for Cease, so with the deferrals, they were spot on.

Now, I am bummed that three of my initial top targets before (Shane Bieber, Dylan Cease, Jack Flaherty) are all already off the board. But between everyone above — and all of the potential trade candidates (Joe Ryan, Kris Bubic, MacKenzie Gore, Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, etc.) — there’s plenty of reason to believe the Cubs could still come away with impact.

Obviously, they need to go out and ACTUALLY DO THAT. And we won’t believe it until we see it. But at the end of the day, I am not at all upset they didn’t top the Blue Jays’ significant offer for Dylan Cease.

And if it makes you feel any better this Thanksgiving holiday, here’s a little bonus nugget to fill your belly until the turkey comes out: I have heard that the Cubs are interested in international free agent starter Tatsuya Imai. Let’s hope that goes somewhere, because he has a lot of potential upside and immediate impact, as well.

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