Blue Jays' Dylan Cease Takes Unexpected Shot at Padres

Sep 24, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) delivers during the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

It wasn't overly surprising that Dylan Cease ended up leaving the San Diego Padres.

The team reportedly shopped him at the trade deadline before ultimately holding onto him. With the ownership situation a bit unsettled, it's likely the team was always going to cut costs. We've already seen that through letting Cease (Toronto Blue Jays) and Robert Suarez (Atlanta Braves) sign elsewhere.

Cease got $210 million reportedly over seven years, whereas the hard-throwing closer earned a three-year deal reportedly worth $45 million.

Dylan Cease couldn't find anyone with a bad word to say about the Blue Jays. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/8Lrh3d13FQ

— theScore (@theScore) December 9, 2025

More news: Padres All-Star Predicted to Leave San Diego, Join Rival Dodgers

The interesting thing is what Cease said during his introduction press conference with the Toronto media. Cease said that he "wanted to join a Championship team" as a reason for landing with the Blue Jays.

To be fair to Cease, Toronto is coming off a magical run in which the team came two outs from winning the 2025 World Series. The Jays famously lost the best-of-seven series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now, nothing that Cease said is unfair. The Blue Jays are going to enter the 2026 season as one of the favorites in the American League. There's a world where both Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker will join a roster that's already added pitchers Cease, Tyler Rogers, and Cody Ponce.

Cease knows that Toronto will spend and presumably be competitive.

Dylan Cease on why he signed with the Blue Jays:

"I wanted to join a championship team." pic.twitter.com/TvYjtr14q2

— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) December 9, 2025

More news: Padres All-Star Predicted to Leave San Diego, Join Rival Dodgers

For the ownership reason mentioned above, the same can't be said for the Friars. Aside from Cease and Suarez already leaving, there's real concern the team could lose all of a group featuring pitcher Michael King, outfielder Ryan O'Hearn, and infielder Luis Arraez.

The FIRST player to wear Number 84 in Blue Jays history: Dylan Cease 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Pw8M5A7xeg

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) December 4, 2025

The prospect of spending money on highly-touted free agents out on the open market doesn't appear overly likely. Don't count AJ Preller out of making a monumental trade. He's been known to take big swings, whether for better or worse, throughout his tenure.

At the same time, there's no pathway as currently constituted for the Padres to suddenly leapfrog the reigning back-to-back champions. There's even concern that San Diego could finish below the San Francisco Giants and/or the Arizona Diamondbacks based on how the offseason progresses.

At the very least, re-upping with King makes the most sense in getting the Padres back on the right track.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.