Orioles Sign Tomoyuki Sugano – MLB Trade Rumors

The Orioles have signed a longtime NPB star Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year contract Monday night. Sugano, a VC Sports Group client, is reportedly guaranteed $13 million. Baltimore had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Sugano makes the jump to Major League Baseball for the first time in what will be his age 35 season. He is one of Japan’s most skilled throwers. The 6’1″ right-hander spent 12 years with the Yomiuri Giants in his home country. He posted a 2.43 earned run average in more than 1800 innings at the NPB level.

Major League scouts have been following Sugano for some time. He first appeared on many fans’ radars when the Yomiuri Giants made him available via the publishing system during the 2020-21 offseason. Sugano was coming off a 1.97 ERA in his age 30 season. While he certainly caught the attention of big league clubs, he didn’t find a deal that would force him to leave Japan. Instead, Sugano returned to the Giants on a four-year contract that paid him $40 million.

That contract allowed Sugano to opt out after each season, potentially paving the way for him to move on to the MLB. He was evidently happy with his long-time club and decided not to take any of the early eliminations. Once his four-year tenure ended, his camp made it clear that he intended to sign with an MLB team this offseason. Sugano had exceeded the nine years of NPB service needed to qualify for international free agency. Yomiuri will not receive any compensation for his departure, nor will the deal cost the Orioles anything other than the player’s salary.

Despite his age, Sugano is coming off one of his strongest seasons. He had a 1.67 ERA in 156 2/3 innings over 24 starts. It’s the second-lowest ERA of his career and earned him NPB’s Central League MVP award for the third time. That’s not to say he’s in top form yet, however. Sugano threw just 77 2/3 innings during the 2023 season, reportedly due to an elbow injury. His swing-and-miss rates also dropped significantly from previous years. Sugano has struck out 18.3% of batters faced this year, well outside the 24-26% range he posted in his mid-20s.

Sugano’s NPB strikeout rate was about four percentage points lower than the MLB average of 22% for starting pitchers. Many NPB hitters take a more contact-oriented approach than is common in the big leagues, so perhaps they’ll be missing a few more at-bats in the majors. Sugano, however, does not have the same advantage that he would have brought a few seasons ago. Baseball America’s scouting report notes that his fastball velocity has fallen into the 92-93 MPH range after hovering between 94-96 MPH earlier in his career.

While the raw talent has diminished with age and battles with injuries, Sugano has thrived thanks to his feel for pitching. This is most evident in his excellent mastery. Sugano has only fielded 16 batters all season, a microscopic rate of 2.6% that is lower than any MLB starter has managed this year (minimum 100 innings). This should increase slightly as he faces more patient hitters, but it’s fair to project Sugano for more or better command.

Baseball America writes that Sugano actually profiles as a control-oriented fourth or fifth starter. The outlet credits him with a five-pitch mix featuring an above-average slider and splitter. Fans are encouraged to read BA’s entire column, which also includes updated scouting reports on other notable NPB and KBO players available to MLB teams (e.g. Roki Sasaki, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Hyeseong Kim AND Koyo Aoyagi).

The contract is in line with MLBTR’s forecast of one year and $12 million. He appreciates Sugano as a capable back-end starter. Alex Cobb he signed for $15 million with the Tigers last week. Late-career innings eaters Lance Lynn ($11 million) and Kyle Gibson ($13 million) got similar one-year deals with the Cardinals last offseason.

Sugano is a much-needed rotation upgrade for GM Mike Elias and his front office. The O’s should continue to look for higher upside weapons in the coming weeks. Sugano slips behind Zach Eflin AND Grayson Rodriguez in the planned rotation. Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers, Alberto Suarez and young Povich falls AND Chayce McDermott they are options for the last two places. The rotation remains Baltimore’s biggest question mark.

Sugano is the third highest paid player on the roster, behind Eflin ($18 million) and the new winger signed Tyler O’Neill ($16.5 million). Their player payroll is up to $134 million, as calculated by RosterResource. It’s unclear how far they’re willing to push spending in the first offseason under David Rubenstein’s ownership group.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the salary. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.