ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Toronto's recruiting presentation has Dylan Cease as excited as his own shooting.
“You can tell they've built a really impressive culture,” Keys said during a news conference Tuesday, a week after agreeing to a seven-year, $210 million contract. “The way they explained what they do to get the best out of players or how they prepare and even little things like travel and stuff like that, you can just tell it's a buttoned-up organization. They want to win and that was obvious.”
After coming within two outs of their first World Series title since 1993, the Blue Jays added a right-hander to a rotation projected to include Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios.
“They've proven that they have championship-caliber players and obviously a good process. That was probably the No. 1 thing,” Keys said. “And then it was also, how are they going to help me develop as efficiently as possible and essentially reach my potential more often? That was important to me. That was probably the second biggest 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 put more money into free agency resources and longer-term investments in players.”
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 to do that. The facilities are certainly considered best in class in the players' 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 came to the conclusion that you will like the city, you will 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% strikeout rate was the third-highest among qualified pitchers behind Detroit's Tarik Skubal (32.2%) 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 it. 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 really not worried about it. If I can't extend it, we're in trouble.”
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