Cease, Varland named finalists for AL Cy Young, Reliever of the Year Awards

TORONTO -- We’re coming up on awards season in Major League Baseball, and two Blue Jays have been named finalists.

Dylan Cease is one of three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award, joining Cam Schlittler of the Yankees and Parker Messick of the Guardians, while Louis Varland has earned a spot among the finalists for the AL’s Reliever of the Year Award with the Rays’ Bryan Baker and the Guardians’ Cade Smith.

The Cy Young Award will be announced on MLB Network on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, with the Reliever of the Year Award scheduled for the same night on the same show.

Just one year into his seven-year, $210 million deal, Cease has already exceeded the Blue Jays’ early expectations with a dominant debut. The 30-year-old posted a 2.40 ERA with a whopping 239 strikeouts over 169 innings, good for a rate of 12.7 per nine innings.

Cease hit double-digit strikeouts in nine of his 29 outings this season, giving the Blue Jays a rare combination of swing-and-miss stuff with an ability to work deep into games. It’s the highest strikeouts-per-nine rate from a Blue Jays starter in franchise history and his 239 K’s rank him fourth all-time behind only Robbie Ray in 2021 (248) and Roger Clemens in ’97-98 (292, 271). All three of those seasons between Ray and Clemens ended in an AL Cy Young Award.

For much of the season, this felt like a two-horse race between Cease and Schlittler, but the Yankees’ ace likely pulled away down the stretch when he posted a 1.95 ERA over 193 2/3 innings. Cease also hit the IL late in the year with inflammation in his right shoulder, which came after some noticeable dips in velocity, but the Blue Jays didn’t sound worried about that coming out of September.

“Dylan was remarkable this year,” said GM Ross Atkins. “We were really impressed by his buy-in, his open-mindedness. That level of humility for someone at that level is very impressive. We’re very encouraged. We know he didn’t finish with the same power that he had, but we have no concerns. That was more bad timing than anything else.”

The Blue Jays have their ace now, no questions asked. Cease’s athleticism helps to project him as a pitcher who will carry his elite stuff well into his 30s, and he gives the Blue Jays a true centerpiece to build around. Entering 2027, he’s expected to have José Soriano and Trey Yesavage pitching behind him while the Blue Jays work to build out the rest of their rotation, which is expected to include Cody Ponce as he returns from right knee surgery.

Out of the bullpen, it won’t surprise anyone to see Varland’s name among the three finalists.

The joke amongst Blue Jays fans is to call Varland “The Committee,” a nod to when John Schneider said the closer’s role would be a committee approach after Jeff Hoffman was removed from the role in late April. It was immediately apparent, though, that Varland was the guy.

Varland put together one of the greatest bullpen seasons in Blue Jays history, right up there with the best we’ve seen from traditional back-end relievers like Tom Henke and Duane Ward. He posted a 1.27 ERA with 97 strikeouts over 78 innings while racking up 35 saves.

Only one closer in Blue Jays history has saved 40-plus games in a season -- Ward’s 45 in 1993 -- but Varland could have taken a run at that number if he’d been in the role all season and will have another shot in 2027.

Everything about Varland screams “closer,” such as a unique mix of personalities with his calm demeanor off the mound and around the clubhouse, but his incredible intensity when the ninth inning rolls around. His true breakout came during the Blue Jays’ 2025 run to the World Series, where Varland pitched 15 times, but the ‘26 season established him as one of the game’s truly elite closers.

It’s a stacked field in that category, with all three worthy. Cleveland’s Smith saved 41 games with a 1.95 ERA while Tampa Bay’s Baker matched those 41 saves with a 1.44 ERA. There’s no wrong answer here, but Blue Jays fans -- and Schneider -- wouldn’t trade Varland for anyone in the ninth inning.