CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal antitrust case accusing NASCAR of being a monopolistic bully was settled Thursday after the stock car racing series agreed to make the charters at the heart of its business model permanent for its teams.

The lawsuit filed by Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports had shadowed NASCAR for more than a year. The retired NBA great pushed ahead, telling the jury he believed he was one of the few who could challenge the series.

Jordan, 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin and Front Row owner Bob Jenkins joined NASCAR chairman Jim France as they stood together outside the courthouse. The group announced that the charters — at the heart of NASCAR’s revenue model — will be made permanent for all Cup Series teams. Both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, the two plaintiffs, will get them back after racing unchartered most of this past season.

“Today’s a good day,” Jordan said.

The financial terms were not disclosed. An economist earlier testified that 23XI and Front Row were owed over $300 million in damages.

The settlement came on the ninth day of the trial before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who set aside motions hearing for an hourlong sidebar. Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row, emerged from a conference room at the end of the hour to inform a court clerk, “We’re ready.” Kessler then led Jordan, Hamlin and Jenkins to another room for more talks.

23XI and Front Row filed their lawsuit last year after refusing to sign agreements on the new charter offers NASCAR presented in September 2024. Teams had until end of day to sign the 112-page document, which guarantees access to top-level Cup Series races and a revenue stream, and 13 of 15 organizations reluctantly agreed. Jordan and Jenkins sued instead and raced most of the 2025 season unchartered.

Both teams said a loss in the case would have put them out of business.

“What all parties have always agreed on is a deep love for the sport and a desire to see it fulfill its full potential,” NASCAR and the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “This is a landmark moment, one that ensures NASCAR’s foundation is stronger, its future is brighter and its possibilities are greater.”

Bell told the jury that sometimes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement.

“I wish we could’ve done this a few months ago,” Bell said in court. “I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.”

All teams believed the previous revenue-sharing agreement was unfair, and two-plus years of bitter negotiations led to NASCAR’s final offer, which was described by the teams as “take it or leave it.” The teams said the new agreement lacked all four of their key demands, most importantly the charters becoming permanent instead of renewable.

The settlement followed eight days of testimony in which the Florida-based France family, the founders and private owners of NASCAR, were shown to be inflexible in making the charters permanent.

When the defense began its case Wednesday, it seemed focused more on mitigating damages than proving it did not act anticompetitively.

THE JOKES ARE easy enough to make between “old man” Haynes King and his position coach, the oldest man to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

Twenty-five years ago, when Chris Weinke took home the award as a 28-year-old senior, his age became a nonstop topic of conversation. Today, older quarterbacks dot the college football landscape, their advanced ages met with a collective shrug.

“Sometimes I try and mess with him and say, ‘I couldn’t quite catch you on the age, but I tried. I gave it my all,” the 24-year-old King said of Weinke, his quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech.

Older players have been normalized, thanks to the transfer portal and the pandemic, which granted freshmen an extra year of eligibility if they wanted it. Nearly 40 quarterbacks from the 2020 class came back this year for one more season at the FBS level. Plus, with NIL and revenue sharing, some quarterbacks are opting to stay in college as opposed to leaving school for the NFL draft. And sixth-year quarterbacks like King and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia entered the Heisman conversation this year. (Pavia was named a finalist.) Still, if more quarterbacks are 24 years old these days, nobody is quite as aged as Weinke was when he played.

“The landscape of college football has obviously changed,” Weinke says. “But that was a point of contention when I won it. When I walked into the room that evening when they were making the Heisman announcement, I didn’t think I was going to win it, because there was so much chatter that I didn’t deserve to win it because I was older.

“But I’ve got it now, and they can’t take it away.”

Perhaps the conversation around what Weinke did in 2000 at Florida State should be reframed. What made that season so remarkable had nothing to do with age, and everything to do with how he turned himself into a star after his college football career nearly ended. Twice.

FLORIDA STATE OFFENSIVE coordinator Mark Richt was sitting in his office in 1996, when then-coach Bobby Bowden came in with some news. At the time, Richt was closing in on getting a commitment from the top quarterback prospect in the country, Drew Henson. That is, until Bowden told him about a promise he had made to Weinke six years earlier.

Weinke had initially signed with the Seminoles in 1990, joining a quarterback room that included Brad Johnson, Casey Weldon and fellow freshman Charlie Ward. But he also had a lucrative offer to play baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays organization, after being selected in the second round of the MLB draft. Weinke had until classes started in late August to decide which sport he was going to play, so he opted to begin fall practice with Florida State while weighing his options.

He went through fall two-a-days, and with decision day closing in, Richt remembers one quarterback meeting in particular. To make sure his quarterbacks understood what he was teaching them, he would ask them questions.

Richt turned to Weinke as they watched tape and asked, “What coverage is this on this play?”

“Cover 3?” Weinke guessed.

“No.”

“Cover 1?

“No. It’s quarters coverage,” Richt said.

Weinke responded: “Whatever.”

“That was the day before school started,” Richt said. “I said, ‘I got a feeling this kid is going to leave and play pro baseball.'”

Sure enough, Weinke left. But Bowden told him if he ever decided to return to football, he would have a spot waiting for him at Florida State.

After six years of bouncing around the minor leagues and getting as high as Triple-A, Weinke decided to give up on baseball, but not playing sports entirely. He wanted to go back to football. Richt reminded Bowden that if they took Weinke, they would lose Henson.

“Well, I promised him if ever wanted to play football again, I’d let him come back,” Bowden told Richt.

Richt asked to speak with Weinke first.

“I was telling him all the rules and regs, I was telling him about [quarterback] Dan Kendra already on campus and when I’m done giving him my spiel to try to get him not to come, he says, ‘Hey coach, let me ask you one question. If I’m the best guy, will I play?’ I said, ‘Of course.’ He goes, ‘I’m coming.’ We lost the other quarterback to Michigan. I guess we came out OK with Weinke.”

Nobody quite knew what to expect when he arrived on campus as a 25-year-old freshman in 1997, but he quickly became one of the guys, in part because he had a large house off campus and threw his fair share of parties where all were invited.

The larger issue was that he arrived as a baseball player. Weinke had not picked up a football in six years.

Getting his form back would take time and reps. Lots and lots of reps. Former teammates and coaches described Weinke’s competitiveness, work ethic and relentless demeanor as driving forces. He would never settle for anything less than his best effort; and he expected the same from his teammates.

That is why he woke up before class started and went to watch tape with Richt. Why he organized every voluntary 7-on-7 workout and essentially made them mandatory. Because if someone failed to show up, he would go and find them and bring them out to the practice field. He developed such a great rapport with his receivers that he would be able to anticipate where they would be at any given time on the field.

“Our chemistry was like none other,” said Marvin “Snoop” Minnis, his leading receiver in 2000. “He knew what I was going to do before I did. He would have the ball to me before I even got out of my break, and as a receiver, you love that so you can react and make the move you need to make on the defender.”

Weinke played sparingly in 1997 but won the starting job in 1998. Things started well enough in the opener. Then in his second career start, at NC State, Weinke threw a school-record six interceptions, and the criticism began.

“I remember getting back to the house, we had an answering machine back then. The most brutal messages you could imagine, cursing and threats, and ‘You don’t need to play quarterback,'” said Jeff Purinton, who was working in the Florida State media relations department at the time and was one of Weinke’s roommates. “Even going to the store, people would talk trash. Chris just weathered it and used that as an opportunity to learn.”

Weinke rebounded from there, helping Florida State reel off eight straight wins. That last win, against Virginia, was nearly the last time he saw the field.

TOWARD THE END of the first half, Weinke got sacked and felt pain in his right arm. He initially thought he had a shoulder injury. Weinke went into the locker room at halftime, and as trainers began to lift off his shoulder pads, he had a sharp pain in his neck. He was fitted with a brace and underwent further testing.

When the doctor walked in to deliver the results, Weinke remembers asking, “Before you share any news, I just want to know one thing. Am I ever going to play college football again?”

“Well,” the doctor said. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

The doctor said Weinke needed surgery to insert a titanium plate into his neck after X-rays showed a chipped bone lodged against a nerve in a vertebra, ligament damage and a ruptured disc.

“Maybe the better news,” the doctor said. “You were a centimeter away from being paralyzed from the neck down.”

“Mom hears that, and dad hears that. They’re not real excited about me getting back out on the field,” Weinke says. “But they knew that burning desire inside of me that wanted to get back out there and be a part of the team. The doctors told me that I’d be stronger with a titanium plate in my neck, so I was going to do whatever it took. But those were probably the hardest seven months of my life.”

Weinke initially had complications post-surgery and had to be in bed for five weeks. He lost 30 pounds, and his throwing arm atrophied so severely that it became impossible for him to even lift a football. He had to teach himself again how to throw, starting first with a tennis ball. Throwing it 5 yards was a huge accomplishment. Seven hours a day, day after day, he rehabbed, steadily progressing, all the while unsure whether he would make it all the way back.

Then, there he was in the season opener against Louisiana Tech, completing 63% of his passes, throwing for 242 yards and two touchdowns. That was the start of an undefeated national championship-winning season in 1999, as Florida State went wire to wire as the No. 1 team in the nation.

Weinke opted to return for one more season, because he wanted to get Bowden another national championship. After throwing for 3,432 yards, 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions as a junior and winning the title, Weinke became one of the Heisman front-runners headed into 2000.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, there is one play from that season that remains a part of Seminoles lore: Weinke to Minnis, 98 yards, in a 54-7 blowout win over Clemson in mid-November.

On the second series of the game, backed up near the goal line, Florida State ran what Bowden referred to as a “gym play” — one that was never practiced on the field, but rather behind closed doors inside the gym away from prying eyes. “Or spies,” Richt said.

Weinke dropped back deep into the end zone and faked a handoff to Jeff Chaney, turning his back to the defense and tucking the ball as if he no longer had it. Minnis had gone in motion and made the safety think he was blocking for a handoff, then took off down the middle. By the time Weinke delivered the ball, Minnis was wide open. Easy touchdown. Easy 54-7 win.

“He was so ice cold in that moment,” Minnis said. “The confidence that he had in the O-line to just stand there, then turn around and hit me for the touchdown. For him to make that fake as beautiful as he did and then put that ball on a dime just tells you how great Chris Weinke was and how deserving he was of that Heisman Trophy.”

There was another game that added to his legend: The regular-season final against the rival Gators. Weinke had missed the 1998 game in Gainesville because of his neck injury. Nothing would keep him from playing them in The Swamp in 2000. Not even the flu.

Weinke was so sick the night before the game, he stayed at the home of team doctor Kris Stowers so he would not be around the rest of the team in the team hotel. He rode with Stowers to the game on Saturday, and walked through all the tailgate lots on the way to the locker room. Trainers gave him an IV before the game started, and Weinke proceeded to throw for 353 yards and three touchdowns in the 30-7 win.

Florida State was well positioned to make it back to the national title game, and Weinke was also well positioned in the Heisman Trophy race. But as the weeks drew closer to the announcement of the Heisman finalists, critics waged a campaign against Weinke — saying his age should disqualify him from consideration. That angered his teammates.

“He dominated that year, and it had nothing to do with age,” Minnis said. Added running back Travis Minor: “When he got there, he wasn’t looking like a Heisman Trophy candidate or winner. He really put the work in. You saw the difference from when he first got there to when he had that Heisman Trophy season. He earned everything that he won.”

Florida State knew it had to start working on messaging with Heisman voters as the debate over his age raged on. Ultimately, school officials came back to one main point: It was hard to argue with the stats. Weinke had led the nation with 4,167 yards passing and 33 touchdowns and had the Seminoles playing in a third straight national championship game.

“He was playing baseball for six years. It wasn’t like he was throwing the football every day and training to be a starting college quarterback,” Purinton said. “The other part is he could have died when he broke his neck. There were two points in time where he had to go back and start football over again.”

Weinke said the narrative taking shape around his age “pissed me off.”

“I was playing college football, so if I’m playing college football, then I should be eligible to win any award that they’re giving out in college football,” Weinke said. “That was just a little motivating factor for me.”

Weinke ultimately made it to New York with fellow finalists Josh Heupel, LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees. His teammates watched on television screens from the team banquet Florida State had scheduled for that night.

“Sitting in the Downtown Athletic Club coming out of a commercial break and them announcing your name will ring in my head till the day I die,” Weinke said.

Weinke beat out Heupel in one of the closest votes in Heisman history, taking a 76-point margin of victory. His teammates whooped and hollered for him back home. Weinke took the stage and said, “With apologies to Lou Gehrig, I feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

WEINKE BEGAN COACHING 10 years after he won the Heisman. He first came to know King while working as an assistant at Tennessee in 2020. When King hit the portal in 2022, Weinke had moved on to Georgia Tech. His first call was to King.

“Playing quarterback is kind of tricky,” King says. “The stars have to align, whether it’s people around you and or how you’re playing. Even in my class, there were guys like Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson and C.J. Stroud, already in the league, and I’m still in college like Chandler Morris, Diego Pavia, Carson Beck. Everybody’s timeline is different.”

While the debate over his age has been left to the dustbin of history, what Weinke did that year may never be replicated. In an era of sport and position specialization, quarterbacks rarely play multiple sports at elite levels — let alone leave football behind for six years before coming back to it. In the 25 years since Weinke won the Heisman, Brandon Weeden at Oklahoma State is perhaps the only notable quarterback to play baseball and then stick around in college football into his late 20s.

“To go through the things that I went through was clearly the road less traveled,” Weinke said. “Being an older guy and not playing football for seven years, then fulfilling a dream of playing for Coach Bowden, then breaking my neck, and coming back and giving Coach Bowden his first undefeated season, and ultimately having my name called for the Heisman Trophy, I just felt blessed.”

The MLB winter meetings have come and gone, and though there’s always a hope that there will be plenty of action, that’s not always the case. The 2025 meetings didn’t have a $700-plus million deal like last year, but there were still a number of impactful free agent signings, although no groundbreaking trades.

Veteran slugger Kyle Schwarber chose to return to the Philadelphia Phillies on a five-year deal in the first major splash of the meetings. The Los Angeles Dodgers added to an already star-studded roster by signing closer Edwin Diaz to a three-year, $69 million contract that sets a record in AAV for a reliever. The Baltimore Orioles then joined the fun by adding a veteran slugger on a five-year deal of their own in Pete Alonso.

We asked our MLB experts who were on the scene in Orlando, Florida, to break down everything that happened this week. Which moves most impressed them — and which most confused them? Who were the biggest winners and losers? What should we make of the trade market? And what can we expect next?

What is the most interesting thing you heard this week in Orlando?

Jorge Castillo: That a Tarik Skubal trade is likely. Here’s what we know: Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris can shut down speculation by simply saying he is not trading Skubal and he has not done that. Instead, he noted this week that there aren’t any “untouchables” on his roster. Trading the best pitcher in baseball when you’re trying to compete would upset the fan base, but the Tigers, knowing re-signing Skubal next winter is unlikely, appear open to it.

Bradford Doolittle: Managers’ responses to questions about how they plan to handle the new ABS system were interesting. No one seems fixed on a protocol just yet, but what had not occurred to me is that catchers are likely to be the triggers for challenges for the defense. So instead of the possible reality in which catcher value was undermined by a full-blown automated system, this structure actually will enhance it — and we’ll have a new set of statistics to track.

Alden Gonzalez: Tyler Glasnow‘s name has come up in conversations, and the Dodgers would not be opposed to moving him. He’s poised to make a combined $60 million over the next two years, with either a $30 million club option or a $21.6 million player option in 2028. But the quality of his stuff continues to tantalize executives throughout the industry, and there are certainly a fair share of teams that will bank on him staying healthy enough to make it worthwhile. Maybe he’s part of the package that brings Tarik Skubal to L.A. A longshot, perhaps, but wilder things have happened.

Jeff Passan: The Texas Rangers are in listening mode on star shortstop Corey Seager, which doesn’t mean the two-time World Series MVP is by any means going to be moved but reflects the Rangers’ willingness to overhaul the team beyond their trade of Marcus Semien. To be abundantly clear: Texas isn’t looking to shed the remaining $186 million on his contract. The return would need to overwhelm the Rangers. But they are facing a payroll crunch, and with Pete Alonso landing a $155 million deal and Kyle Schwarber reaping $150 million, Seager’s deal is quite appealing. He’s only 31, he plays an excellent shortstop and of all the position players ostensibly available via trade or free agency, he is the best.

Jesse Rogers: Simply put, that deals for many of the major free agent pitchers aren’t close to being finalized. It almost feels like the beginning of the offseason for starting pitchers, who are meeting with teams to try to ignite their market. There has been a steady pace of signings for relievers — especially at the high end — but other than Dylan Cease, starting pitchers have been slow to agree to deals. That will change — at least in part — because Japanese starter Tatsuya Imai has a deadline of Jan. 2 to sign, but even that is still several weeks away.

What was your favorite move of the offseason so far?

Doolittle: I’m not too excited about any of them so far — not that I think they’re all bad, just nothing tickles my fancy. So the bar is pretty low. I’ll go with the Toronto Blue Jays going big on Cease. Keep that crest wave Toronto is on rolling.

Gonzalez: As a general rule, any free agent deal this time of year tends to be an overpay. And that’s what makes the Dodgers’ deal for star closer Diaz so appealing. Diaz received the highest annual value ever for a reliever, but they were able to get him for only three years (and, as they so often do, defer some of the payments). The Dodgers capitalized on the New York Mets‘ signing of Devin Williams — which opened the door for Diaz’s departure — and addressed their own biggest need with the type of short-term, high-AAV contract that is always their preference.

Rogers: I love Baltimore going for it, agreeing to a deal with Alonso. The Orioles had a bad season in 2025 and are doing everything they can to change their fortunes for next season — even if there are some inherent doubts about acquiring an aging first baseman for big money. The bottom line is Alonso is going to mash in Baltimore and perhaps bring some leadership to a team that needs a veteran presence. I love the big swing here — pun intended.

Which team’s actions (or lack thereof) had you scratching your head?

Doolittle: It’s probably too early to judge any particular team for its offseason in total, but the most perplexing move for me was Baltimore dealing Grayson Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Angels for one year of Taylor Ward. That definitely makes my head itch.

Castillo: The Orioles prioritizing a slugger after acquiring Ward from the Angels was unexpected. Baltimore does not have a shortage of young position player talent. Starting pitching, not offense, was their pressing need — especially after trading Rodriguez for Ward. But the Orioles offered Schwarber a five-year, $150 million and quickly pivoted to Alonso when Schwarber chose the Phillies, landing the former Mets first baseman with a five-year, $155 million deal that surpassed industry projections. The pressure remains on Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias to acquire a frontline starter, which he has plainly stated is an offseason priority.

Passan: What the New York Mets did over a 24-hour period to end the meetings — miss out on slugger Schwarber, lose closer Díaz to the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers and lose Alonso, their franchise home run leader, to the Orioles — felt like a bloodletting.

Collapses like the Mets’ have consequences, and president of baseball operations David Stearns is reshaping them to his liking. Defensive liabilities are a no-no. Record-setting deals for relief pitchers are verboten. How the Mets proceed is anyone’s best guess, but let’s not forget: Steve Cohen is still the richest owner in baseball, and that opens a world of possibilities. But if this period of inaction isn’t remedied through decisive moves — an influx of talent either through free agency or trades — the Mets’ playoff hopes will end before they’ve begun.

After a lot of buzz ahead of the meetings, it was pretty quiet on the trade front. What is one big deal you think could go down from here?

Gonzalez: The Miami Marlins have been engaged in trade conversations around Edward Cabrera, a 27-year-old starting pitcher with three controllable years remaining. And the Orioles have emerged as a front-runner, as first reported by The Athletic. There are a number of starting pitchers available at the moment. Sonny Gray has already gone from St. Louis to Boston, and Cabrera could be next to move.

Passan: A second baseman is going to move. Maybe multiple. There is too much interest in Ketel Marte, Brendan Donovan and Brandon Lowe for a deal not to be consummated. It’s not just them, either. Jake Cronenworth is available. The Yankees have listened on Jazz Chisholm Jr. The Mets’ overhaul could include moving Jeff McNeil.

Marte and Donovan are the clear prizes, with Arizona’s and St. Louis’ respective asking prices exceptionally high. Which is where, at this point on the calendar, they should be. Especially with all of the teams that could use a second baseman (Boston, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, New York Mets) or that would be willing to replace theirs.

Rogers: Where there is smoke, there is fire, meaning Washington Nationals starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore will be moved. His name came up a lot in Orlando and there are enough motivated teams in part because he’s good and affordable. An American League East team, such as the New York Yankees or Orioles, fits for Gore — especially the latter, which might have an extra hitter or two to spare after signing Alonso. Gore fits in Baltimore on several levels.

Who was the biggest winner — and loser — of the week?

Castillo: The Mets were the biggest loser. Losing Diaz and Alonso on consecutive days two weeks after trading Brandon Nimmo is a staggering sequence not just because they are all All-Star-caliber players, but because they were so integral to the franchise and beloved by the fan base. This doesn’t mean the Mets can’t emerge as winners this season. President of baseball operations David Stearns & Co. have time to rebound. They certainly have moves to make. But this was an ugly week for Mets fans, one they’ll never forget.

Passan: The Dodgers were the biggest winner, filling their clearest need with one of the best closers in baseball, Díaz. Cincinnati, in the meantime, is the biggest loser.

Free agents of Schwarber’s ilk rarely entertain the idea of going to small-market teams, but the Reds had a built-in advantage: He was from there. Considering the scarcity of such possibilities, the Reds– one big bat away from being a real threat to win the NL Central — needed to treat Schwarber’s potential arrival with urgency and embrace their inner spendthrift. They had the money to place the largest bid. They chose not to. And they missed, a true shame considering the strength of their rotation and the likelihood that similar opportunities won’t find them again anytime soon.

Rogers: The Phillies were the biggest winner. Where would they be without Schwarber? Perhaps it was fait accompli he would be returning, but until he signed on the dotted line, some doubt had to exist. His power simply can’t be replaced, meaning the Phillies’ whole trajectory this offseason would have changed had he left. Now, they can keep moving forward on other important decisions, such as what to do at catcher and if Nick Castellanos still fits their roster. Checking the Schwarber box removes a major potential headache for the franchise. Conversely, even if it was a long shot, the Cincinnati Reds losing out on Schwarber has to hurt. As important as he is to the Phillies, his impact in Cincinnati could have been even more meaningful. He instantly would have elevated the Reds on and off the field.

Which team is under the most pressure to do something big after the meetings?

Castillo: The Mets for the reasons I stated above. Stearns obviously believed he needed to make changes to the roster after such a disappointing season. But this is a major, major overhaul that goes beyond on-field performance. Diaz, Alonso, and Nimmo were beloved core Mets and key to the franchise’s fabric. The pressure is on Stearns to ensure the jarring changes will produce success.

Doolittle: Cincinnati. The Reds muffed the Schwarber situation in a major way. I’m not sure what their actual chances were of signing him, but they should have at least matched what the Phillies offered. The fit between the player and what he’d add to the city and the clubhouse culture while addressing the roster’s biggest need in an emphatic fashion was a set of alignments hard to replicate. There is no suitable pivot from here. But the Reds need to do something — and they need to stop making excuses for why they don’t.

Gonzalez: The Mets. Their decision to not pay a premium for cornerstone players prompted Diaz to leave for L.A., Alonso to depart for Baltimore and their fans, understandably, to be up in arms. Now, they must react. They still have needs to address in their rotation, but they have to get aggressive with their lineup before all of the premium bats come off the board. Going after Cody Bellinger, and potentially stealing him from their crosstown rivals, feels like the natural pivot.

Passan: The Blue Jays have a chance to seize control of the AL East even more than they did in winning the division this year. Whether that means signing Tucker, Bo Bichette or both, they’re spending in the sort of fashion the Yankees and Red Sox used to — and taking advantage of the window of opportunity that presents is imperative.

Toronto, long mocked for its failures in free agency, is now a destination for players enthralled by the brand of baseball the Blue Jays play as well as the deep pockets of ownership. If you’re going to spend $210 million on Cease, that’s a sign: It’s all-in time, and opportunistic maneuvering would pay huge dividends for Toronto.

Rogers: The Yankees. For once, they are the team that needs to respond after the Blue Jays beat them on the field and now so far in the offseason. Toronto keeps adding while New York should try to at least maintain what it has — meaning Bellinger, or perhaps Tucker, should be in Yankees pinstripes as soon as possible. If the Yankees can add Imai, they’ll match Toronto’s addition of Cease. That would be a good thing. The two teams aren’t that far apart in talent, but Yankees general manager Brian Cashman can’t take his foot off the gas. The pressure is on in New York again.