3 moves the Blue Jays must make immediately after massive Dylan Cease signing

The Toronto Blue Jays made their first big splash of the 2025-26 offseason on Wednesday when they signed Dylan Cease to a huge seven-year, $210 million deal to bulk up their roster. In doing so, the Blue Jays now have their front-end of the rotation set for the upcoming season with Cease, Kevin Gausman and a returning Shane Bieber as their three-headed monster, creating a pitching nightmare for opposing teams.

But with the wheels officially rolling, Toronto shouldn’t just stop there if they want to seriously return to the World Series once again. There are further moves the Blue Jays need to make immediately following the Cease signing.

3 moves the Blue Jays must make immediately after massive Dylan Cease signing

Blue Jays need to upgrade the bullpen

Having an unbeatable starting rotation can only go so far without complementing it with a shutdown bullpen. The Blue Jays relief corps had a respectable performance in 2025 when they finished 16th in the league in ERA (3.98), 14th in WHIP (1.28), fifth in strikeouts (644) and third in opponents batting average (.227). However, there should be no excuse to get even better by adding a key piece or two to further augment the bullpen for next year. 

Their prime target should be former New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz, whose lifetime 2.82 ERA, 253 saves and 839 strikeouts in 519.1 innings pitched, makes him one of the best in the business. But if the Blue Jays need to go on a slightly more economical route, thanks to the massive Cease deal, bounce back candidates Ryan Helsley and Devin Williams should fit the bill given their breadth of experience both as a closer and setup man. 

Blue Jays need to bring back Bo Bichette

As much as the Blue Jays don’t want to admit it, it is not likely possible that the team could actually be better without star shortstop Bo Bichette. It’s not everyday a team can develop a homegrown, pure hitting star talent like the Blue Jays did with Bichette. Having a player that can produce offensively is one thing. But having someone like the two-time All-Star that could provide heart, leadership and producing in the clutch when things mattered most for the team is on another level. 

With a career .294 average, .806 OPS, while averaging close to 20 home runs and 100 RBIs per season, Bichette will not be easy to replace, if not, impossible. The task could now be a little more daunting given the money shelled out to land Cease. However, with now such a huge commitment by the Blue Jays to winning, it might just be enough to entice Bichette to return on a big, yet valuable long-term deal to solidify their contending status for years to come.

Blue Jays need to add an elite power bat

Having Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and an aging George Springer to lead the way again on offense for the Blue Jays for the 2026 season may be a tall order. Especially without having Bichette to serve as protection in the batting order, along with the potential slight regressions for players that had career years in 2025 such as Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger and Ernie Clement. As a result, adding one more potent bat into their daily lineup would likely provide the necessary jolt to their offensive attack going forward.

The chances now of landing the power-hitting Kyle Tucker might have become slimmer with the financial commitment to Cease. Especially as the top free agent in the market across multiple sources, his ultimate contract numbers are going to be astronomical.

However, there are still many elite options in the tier just below Tucker with the likes of Cody Bellinger, Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman to choose from. Alonso, of course, could provide enormous power not seen since the José Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion days, whereas Bellinger and Bregman would bring the attractive combination of elite offense to go along with solid defense as former Gold Glove winners.

Nevertheless, if the Blue Jays do fail to re-sign Bichette, this need becomes an absolute must in order for Toronto to have sustainable success.