MLB News: Dylan Cease, Sonny Gray, free agent market, World Baseball Classic

Happy Friday, everyone! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are recovering from your food coma. Now, before you get into your Black Friday shopping, we have a little bit of a news post to start your day. There’s a little bit of everything, but of course, the biggest news is one of the largest free agent deals so far this offseason, one that is going to set the tone for free agent pitchers this year and into the future. Dylan Cease has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for seven years and $210 million.

We’ll get into all that and so much more below, including an update on one superstar who plans to head back to the World Baseball classic, a case for a Hall of Fame old timer, and… what is Alex Rodriguez so annoyed about now?

Let’s jump into it!

• It appears that the Angels may be looking to buy out the remainder of Anthony Rendon’s contract, and Rendon is poised to retire. Story by Darragh McDonald.

• Jay Jaffe makes a Hall of Fame case for Chase Utley.

• Will Leitch has a reason for every team to be thankful on Thanksgiving.

• David Adler shares that Shohei Ohtani is planning to play for Team Japan in the next World Baseball Classic.

• Madison Williams reports that the Rockies have promoted Warren Schaeffer to full-time manager for 2026.

• Dylan Cease has made a deal with the Blue Jays, and it’s a doozy. Story by Darragh McDonald.

• Mark Feinsand looks at how the Cease deal will impact the starting pitcher market.

• Breaking down the Cease deal from all angles. (MLB)

• Who are the highest-paid pitchers in MLB? Story by Eva Geitheim.

• Michael Baumann looks at the deal that moved Sonny Gray to the Red Sox.

• Ryan Phillips determines who won the trade for the Sonny Gray move.

• Michael Rosen makes a case for Wyatt Langford at center.

• Ben Weinrib offers up the best prospects at each age.

• Sarah Langs gives us a list of the wins pitchers were most thankful this year.

• Steve Rushin looks at the glutinous state of ballpark food.

• Stephanie Apstein tries to determine if the Phillies’ eating habits helped contribute to their winning ways.

• Alex Rodriguez has some pretty strong opinions about Bud Selig being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Story by Denny Alfonso. (The Athletic subscription required)

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.