It is official, and honestly, for a lot of Chicago Cubs fans, it stings more than just a little bit. Dylan Cease, the kid we drafted, developed, and then watched blossom into a star elsewhere, has signed a massive seven-year $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. It is the largest free-agent contract in Blue Jays history, a true statement move that screams they are ready to win right now. They saw a legitimate ace on the market, they saw the price tag, and they didn’t blink. But that should have been the Cubs. That should have been Jed Hoyer stepping up to the plate, correcting the mistake of the Jose Quintana a few trade years ago, and bringing the kid back home to anchor this rotation for the next decade.
The most maddening part of all this isn’t just that he signed elsewhere; it’s that the Cubs were right there until the very end. They were genuinely interested and involved in the bidding war, but the moment the price tag started creeping toward that $200 million mark, the front office decided to bow out. That specific threshold — and the refusal to cross it — is where the conversation gets interesting, and frankly, pretty frustrating if you are a fan who has been patiently waiting for another World Series push. This hesitation is classic Jed Hoyer. It is a strategy we have seen him employ time and time again, and while it is calculated, it is starting to feel like we are permanently waiting for next year even when this year is staring us in the face.
Since taking over the reins of baseball operations, Hoyer has been preaching a very specific gospel of sustainable, long-term success. He is absolutely adamant about not getting tied down by massive, long-term contracts that could potentially cripple the team’s financial flexibility five or six years down the road. We saw this philosophy in its most painful, visceral form when he systematically dismantled the beloved 2016 World Series core. Trading away icons like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javy Baez was a clear, undeniable signal that the old era was dead and a new, more efficient era was beginning. It was a brutal pill to swallow at the time, but his logic to burn it down, rebuild the farm system, and create a machine that can compete year in and year out, rather than just for a short, expensive window was very sound.
To be fair to Hoyer, he has done a good job of that. The farm system is now one of the best in baseball. He has made some shrewd moves in free agency, like signing Dansby Swanson and Jameson Taillon without completely breaking the bank. He even managed to bring in Japanese superstar Seiya Suzuki and the electric Shota Imanaga, showing he is willing to spend money, but only on his own, very specific terms. But that brings us right back to Dylan Cease. A seven-year deal for a 29-year-old pitcher is exactly the kind of move that Hoyer seems allergic to. His entire philosophy is built on the idea that the next wave of Cubs talent is always just around the corner, and he needs to keep the payroll flexible enough to extend those kids when they finally pop.
And this is the crux of the argument: the minor league shield. The reason the Cubs didn’t match that $210 million offer is likely sitting in Iowa and Tennessee right now. The front office is looking at a treasure trove of prospects on the verge of breaking through and thinking, Why pay retail price for Cease when we can grow our own? We are talking about guys like pitcher Jaxon Wiggins who hasn’t played in the big leagues yet and is currently the Cubs top prospect.
However, baseball isn’t played on a spreadsheet. It’s played on dirt and grass, and there is a massive difference between a prospect and a proven ace. Prospects break your heart. They get hurt. They lose their command. They struggle to adjust to big-league hitting. For every Kris Bryant who pans out immediately, there are a dozen guys who never quite put it together. Dylan Cease, on the other hand, is a known commodity. He is a workhorse who has eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark in each of the last five seasons, a feat that makes him a unicorn in today’s game. That is the kind of dominant, swing-and-miss stuff that you can build a championship rotation around. That is the guy you want on the mound in Game 1 of the NLDS.
Here’s the thing, folks: This is so incredibly frustrating for us Cubs fans because we have sat through the rebuild. We have watched the team shed payroll. We have been told to trust the process and be patient. And now, the team is finally good again. The window is officially open. A perfect piece became available — a guy who knows the city, knows the pressure, and has the talent to push us over the top — and the team decided to fold their cards because the pot got too big.
With that… While Hoyer has a discipline that few GMs possess and has built a sustainable model that should keep the Cubs competitive for a long time. Right now, in this moment, it feels like a missed opportunity of massive proportions. It feels like the Blue Jays were willing to take the risk required to be great, while the Cubs were content with being smart and efficient. And as a fan who just wants to see another parade, that is a really hard thing to accept.
If you cannot play with them, then root for them!