Blue Jays take bold, costly gamble with top-tier free agent while Yankees sit silent

If the New York Yankees plan to "have themselves an offseason," they're going to have to sign one of the two very obvious targets they've aligned themselves with, and they're going to need to get very creative on the trade market. The Yankees "winning the winter" would involve Kyle Tucker/Cody Bellinger AND two or three swaps that are completely off the beaten path (and off the map entirely).

That's because of both the overflow of largesse already on their books, and because ... well, it's tough to see many other obvious fits in the upper tier of free agency. They're not going to sign Kyle Schwarber. Alex Bregman feels unlikely. The top rotation targets? Their five-year outlook is already a little crowded with $25M+ commitments.

Apparently, the Toronto Blue Jays don't feel the same way. Their rotation, also ostensibly full, got even thicker on Wednesday evening.

Since Canadian Thanksgiving has nothing to do with this week, perhaps the Blue Jays felt freer to make moves, unencumbered by the holiday schedule. Dylan Cease is now a Jay at the exorbitant sum of $210 million over seven seasons, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.

Toronto Blue Jays' spending spree continues with Dylan Cease while Yankees sit and ponder

$30 million AAV for a boom-or-bust pitcher the Yankees weren't even associated with whispering about? It's not a deal we would've handed out. But it's the kind of deal that the reigning American League champions can apperantly make comfortably, and distinctly unafraid choices like this one are how you stay on top, after a season the entire world has been patiently waiting to call a fluke.

The Yankees? Their offseason may contain surprises, but they won't be making a free agent splurge of any kind until the outfielders are ready to move. Toronto, despite coaxing Shane Bieber to return and possessing Trey Yesavage and Kevin Gausman in their postseason rotation, saw fit to demote Jose Berrios to fifth starter duties by adding Cease, fresh off 215 strikeouts in 168 innings.

Of course, he also posted a 4.55 ERA and only averaged 5.25 innings per start. Will he get more erratic as he ages? Is he the right-handed Blake Snell? Does any of the cost matter if you add a potentially snarling and crafty ace to a threatening team in a city that's becoming increasingly appealing for free agents to join up with?

It may work. It may not. The Blue Jays, happy to flex, don't seem to be too worried about the risk.

The Yankees will, while they wait, sit here and twiddle their thumbs until Tucker calls back - and oh, by the way, the Jays are the prohibitive favorites for his services, too.