Dylan Cease is a finalist for the AL Outstanding Pitcher Award at the Players Choice Awards. The Blue Jays ace earned it in a season when almost nothing else went right.

The MLBPA announced the finalists Wednesday. Cease is up against the Yankees' Cam Schlittler and Boston's Sonny Gray, with winners revealed the week of Oct. 26.

These awards hit different because the players vote on them. Peers know exactly who they hated facing.

He gave them plenty of reasons. He posted a 2.40 ERA with 239 strikeouts across 29 starts.

The underlying numbers were just as loud. His 2.56 FIP led the American League, and he carried a 1.10 WHIP.

He also made his first career All-Star team. Not bad for a pitcher in year one of a seven-year, $210 million deal, the biggest free-agent contract in franchise history.

Cam Schlittler and Sonny Gray stand between Cease and the award

Schlittler looks like the biggest threat. Without him in the mix, Cease would be the clear favourite.

Does losing to a Yankee sting more? In Toronto, absolutely, and Gray pitching for the Red Sox makes it an all-AL East final three.

The context makes Cease's year even more impressive. The Blue Jays finished 79-83 and last in the division.

His 5.5 fWAR also lapped the rest of the staff, with Louis Varland next at 3.1.

The $210 million bet already looks like the best decision Ross Atkins made last winter. One season in, Toronto got exactly the ace it paid for.

He was the one light still on during a blackout. Everyone gathered around it, because it was all they had.

There's one thing to watch. He finished the season on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, and his offseason plans include a meditation and yoga trip to an Indian ashram.

Win or lose later this month, the bigger prize is a healthy Cease in spring. If the shoulder checks out, Toronto starts 2027 with a true ace, and that's one problem Atkins doesn't have to solve.