00:00So what do they do? Go out and give right-handed pitcher Dylan Cease a seven-year, $210 million
00:07contract to get on over to Toronto, Tom. A big move in free agency here. A lot of money. Cease
00:13could be that ace that Toronto's looking for. Cease is a great pitcher. I've always been
00:19personally very high on the talent that Cease has. This is not to say that he's without his
00:24faults. As we all know, when Cease looks great, it is fantastic. When Cease looks bad, there's
00:31a big downside and the walks and the home runs are an issue. In that stadium for the Toronto
00:37Blue Jays, there's some clear downside because that's a great hitter's park, Donnie, especially
00:41in the summer. If they open the roof, that can be a very favorable hitting environment. But
00:47when Cease is at his best, I believe that he is a borderline top five-ish Cy Young finalist.
00:54I'm not going to say he's going to win the Cy Young, but he's around that level when he's
00:56truly at his best. But there's also some very clear downside and it's a whole lot of money
01:00for a lot of years. Take a look at that rotation here, Tom, that Toronto's going to have at
01:05least anticipated coming up here for 2026. Gaussman Cease, Cease, as long as Jose Barrios
01:10and Cody Ponce needed Cease to get in that lineup. That's a lot of money there. Hopefully
01:14can eat those innings up and away they go and try to repeat as AL East champions here. We'll
01:19find out. But one of the more interesting moves, Tom, of the offseason, and I loved
01:23it. When you look at Detroit, like I think, Tom, like we hold Detroit's lineup higher
01:27on a pedestal than most people because I love their one through eight. It's not really household
01:31names, but you know, they can do some damage. And quite frankly, it is a pitcher's ballpark,
01:35but you always look at Tarek Skubal go, boy, you don't want to see that guy once you get
01:38to the playoffs. And then you go to free agency. And not only do you have like, oh, well, we
01:42don't know. We're going to play an arbitration for our top pitcher in Skubal. He gets the
01:4630 million. You go and get Valdez, who's 32 years old, and you pay him three years,
01:50115. Now you have a legitimate one, two punch and still have Flaherty in that lineup as well.
01:57I, if you're looking at a move singularly that I didn't expect to happen here and loved
02:01it, Detroit's move to get Bramber Valdez, sensational for me, Tom.
02:07I basically co-sign everything that you said. We love their lineup because we know what they
02:11can bring for us when it comes to different, you know, props. Jack Flaherty had a rough
02:16year last year. There were some underlying metrics that I think went against him and
02:20he was a little bit unlucky. And when you have a 27 or a 28% strikeout rate, you should
02:24be a little bit better than what he did last year. I think he is in for a little bit
02:28of
02:28a bounce back, but if he can be a three in that lineup or in that rotation, I should
02:33say, instead of being a two, we also got to note that they actually just re-signed
02:36Verlander this past week. So if you get school number one, now we slot in Fran
02:42Rivaldez as two, then Flaherty and Verlander and Casey Mize at the back end. Now we're
02:48talking, now we're talking with three consistent options or two really consistent
02:52options. And one I think is due for a bounce back. I'm always on board with the
02:55Tigers. Great move for them. Like I said, did not expect it, but awesome signing.
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