By Drew VonScioShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe Toronto Blue Jays had a pre-Thanksgiving splurge Wednesday night by agreeing to a seven-year deal, $210 million with starting pitcher Dylan Cease, according to multiple reports.
This deal came as a surprise as nobody exactly knew which direction the Blue Jays would go to bolster their rotation. Now, Cease will headline the rotation along with Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage. With a big signing for starting pitching, it appeared as if the Blue Jays were stepping back in negotiations for a big bat.
Or so we thought.
Blue Jays insider Keegan Matheson believes the Blue Jays are still in on both Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker despite reportedly spending over $200 million on Cease.
..."The Blue Jays have the financial flexibility to be “in” on whomever they want," Matheson wrote for MLB.com. "While the Cease deal does lessen the already-unlikely odds of the Blue Jays landing both Tucker and Bichette, by no means does it eliminate them from the running to land a bat at the top of the market. Broadly speaking, the Blue Jays were already spending among baseball’s richest clubs, which all came prior to their run to the World Series."
...Toronto now has even more money after the World Series went to seven games. Had the Blue Jays came out on top, there would be that much more money to spend.
It was always going to be a pipeline dream for Toronto to sign Tucker and Bichette. Every Blue Jays was hoping it would happen, but there are too many needs elsewhere on the roster to be filled.
Realistically, it makes much more sense for general manager Ross Atkins to prioritize Bichette as the middle infield market is much less abundant with talent compared to the outfield market.
This news shows the Blue Jays aren't going to take a step back and try to coast their way to a World Series championship, and they are going to spend however much money it takes for them to win.
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