Dylan Cease impressed by Blue Jays’ recruiting pitch as much as his own tosses

Toronto's recruiting campaign has Dylan Cease as excited as his own shooting.

“You can tell they've built a really impressive culture,” Keys said during a press conference on Tuesday, a week after agreeing to a seven-year, $210 million contract. “Because they explained what they do to get the best out of players or how they prepare and even little things like travel and all that, you can just tell it's a buttoned-up organization. They want to win and that was obvious.”

After the Blue Jays came within two outs of their first World Series title since 1993, they added a right-hander to a rotation projected to include Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios.

“They have proven that they have championship-caliber players and obviously a good process. That was probably the number one thing,” Keys said. “And then the question was, how can they help me develop as effectively as possible and, in essence, reach my potential more often? This was important to me. That was probably the second most important consideration.”

Toronto won the AL East this year for the first time since 2015. Mark Shapiro left the Cleveland Indians to succeed Paul Beeston as team president after that season and brought in Ross Atkins as general manager.

“Over time, as Mark and I went through a few years of failure, we poured into resources to help players improve,” Atkins said. “When that started to translate into wins, we then put more money into free agency resources and longer-term player investments.”

WATCH | Keyes said the decision to join the Blue Jays was “inevitable”:

Dylan Keyes says decision to join AL champion Blue Jays was 'inevitable'

At a press conference on Tuesday, new Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Keys spoke about why he signed with Toronto. The right-hander signed a seven-year contract worth US$210 million, the largest free agent contract in team history.

Toronto blocked the free agency for hitting first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. when it agreed in April to a 14-year, $500 million contract that starts next year.

Cease's agent, Scott Boras, dealt with Blue Jays chairman Edward Rogers last offseason when Toronto tried to sign Juan Soto.

“They listened to what players want in amenities, what players want in technology to help them improve, what players want and what they want from a training facility from a medical standpoint,” Boras said. “And the staff was provided for this. The facilities are certainly considered best in class in the gaming community.”

Cease had Gausman's phone number and spoke with the pitcher.

“When I asked around, no one said anything negative about it,” Keys said. “Everyone agreed: You’ll like the city, you’ll like the organization.”

Keys, who turns 30 on Dec. 28, is 65-58 with a 3.88 ERA and 1,231 strikeouts in 188 starts over seven major league seasons. He went 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts this year for San Diego, striking out 215 and walking 71 in 168 innings. His 29.8 and Boston's Garrett Crochet (31.3%).

“He doesn't need to get better by any means, but with that athleticism and toughness, he has the potential to continue on an incredible trajectory,” Atkins said.

Keys' contract includes $64 million in deferred payments until 2046. He's not worried about the decline in the value of money over two decades.

“I think inflation is just a reality. In general, it will happen,” he said. “I trust Scott, I trust the business side of things. When he says, “Hey, this is a good, fair deal,” and explains why, and is objective about it, it makes sense. I think it's a fair deal and I'm not really worried about it. If I can't extend it, we'll have problems.”