JANUARY 4, 10:29 am: While the Mets have been in contact with Sugano at times this offseason, it currently “appears their main focus is elsewhere,” reports Heyman (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post concurs (via Twitter), hearing that the Mets are “not in” on Sugano at this point.
JANUARY 4, 7:52 am: The expectation is that Sugano will decide on his destination by Tuesday, hears Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
JANUARY 3: Japanese free agent Tomoyuki Sugano has until Thursday to sign with a Major League team if he wants to make the jump to the states, but he’s in a strong negotiating position. Sugano has a four-year offer from the Yomiuri Giants that includes three opt-outs, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). With that kind of offer in-hand, the highly-decorated NPB superstar need only make his move to MLB for an offer that checks all his boxes. MLBTR readers foresee the Mets winning the Sugano sweepstakes. Only 9.57% of readers thus far predict a return to Japan for Sugano. The right-hander must make a decision before 5 pm on Thursday when his posting period expires.
Optimists eager to see Sugano take on MLB hitters might see signs pointing to a stateside commitment, however. The contracts being offered Sugano by MLB teams surpass the offer from the Yomiyuri Giants, at least in total dollar amount, and he’s deep into negotiations with a couple of clubs, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The presumption is that Sugano will only cross the pond to join a large market team. MLBTR readers may be on the right track by predicting the Mets as his next team, but the Giants, Red Sox, and Blue Jays also qualify, and all three clubs appear to have interest.
Sugano’s standing offer from his long-time employer in Japan provides him with a good deal of personal agency. Those opt-outs mean that Sugano could replay this saga after each consecutive season, should he so choose. As one of the biggest stars in Japan, Sugano may be itching for a new challenge. He owns a 2.34 career ERA after eight seasons with the Giants, two of which ended with Sugano taking home the top honor for starting pitchers in the NPB, Sherman notes.
Though Sugano has until Thursday’s deadline to decide, it’s likely that he makes his decision sooner, notes both Rosenthal and Sherman. The 31-year-old could bet that owners will dole out more lucrative offers a year from now, presumably after a season that will include partial fan attendance. At that point he’d be entering his age-32 season, which may also be a consideration for the legendary hurler.
From who?
I’m guessing Angels.
What other 12 pitchers will they add? They will need four more starters
To each their own… but Heaney, Canning, Bundy and Ohtani look like a better core than alot of team’s rotation pieces, in my opinion.
Angels need pitching no question but 12 pitchers(4 being starters)is overstating it quite a bit. Moreno has proven and stated he’ll spend money. They need I’d say minimum 2 mid rotation arms and a number of bullpen arms. Luckily for them those FA types in 2021 will likely come as quite the bargain compared to the last number of years. What you’re suggesting that they not sign a possibly solid starter because they need too much pitching is ludicrous(not trying to be ignorant). Even if they fell short it would make fixing all the holes easier to do in 2022. This team is in way to deep to be trying to rebuild.
Ohtani is not a legitimately viable option. At this point it’s Heaney, Canning, Bundy, Barria, and Sandoval as the Angels rotation. Even if they want to use Ohtani as a 6th man he has to get through spring training being able to pitch and who knows if that will happen
Ohtani should never pitch again
He also can’t keep up as a big league hitter, so the Angels made a mistake signing him
Don’t sleep on Chris Rodriguez for the Angels rotation this year. He finally seems healthy.. Very nasty stuff.
He earned a league minimum salary when they signed him and has performed above a league minimum player. Why is that a mistake?
Why would they just give up on Ohtani pitching? Because he got injured? I’m not an Angels fan but he looked pretty darn good out of the gate on the mound and in the batters box. He’s a decent DH but they need his arm. They took a cautious road in his rehab I think don’t see why they wouldn’t have him start or at the very least come out of the pen
Because he got injured twice.
Yes, agreed he looked pretty good on those 50 odd innings he has pitched in what 2 seasons in MLB……
@Rsox Pretty asinine take on Ohtani. He’s as legitimate as any other player coming off an injury.
@padres458 Soo then by your genius logic Padres should also give up on Dinelson Lamet and Clevinger because they too have been injured twice. Lamet more specifically has once again injured his elbow, which forced him to miss the entire 2020 postseason. An injury for which he has yet to recover from.
So much for those deep pockets of Cohen….
Mets
METS:
SIGN: Springer, Bauer, Hand, Sugano
TRADE: Nimmo, Rosario, Matz, Gsellman
DON’T TRADE: 3B Baty, SS Mauricio, RHP Allan, C Alvarez
that contract makes him going back to Japan a high likelihood i think
I doubt it. Entering his age 32 season he’s never going to get more from a MLB team than now. No way he passes up a chance if the money is close or more than what is offered in Japan.
revenue losses could play a role in his market. not saying it’s the right choice, but i woudlnt write it off as ineffective.
Hes going into his age 31 season. He just turned 31 in October. But I do agree. He could get a higher aav if he comes next year but the years won’t be the same
If the Mets or jays do get him it’ll be interesting for the Bauer market.
I am kinda fed up with Bauer trolling YouTube asking fans why he should pitch for their team. Who does he think he is? Savior of a baseball team? Asking for 35 – 40 per? The guy has one good stretch in 2020. Big deal, career ERA close to 4 won’t even be an ace on any team. Sugano is way more established and better pitcher than Bauer. Hopefully Mets get him and hard pass on Bauer
@garywang00 I’m a huge fan of Sugano, but you cannot say he’s more established than Bauer. Sugano has never pitched for an American MLB team. Bauer has success in the MLB already. Bauer’s shtick may be annoying to many, but I think he’s just having fun. Bauer is the safer bet, but he’s also going to be much more expensive. Sugano has been pegged as a 3-4 type of guy. Bauer is very clearly a 1 or 2.
Clearly a 1 or 2? I’d say he’s closer to a 3 than a 1. He’s super inconsistent, and just happens to be in a great position to cash in this off-season because of the year he had (shortened) and the other free agents at his position. He will be overpaid for the overall statistics he posts during this contract.
I like and want bauer to the Mets but his “social media strategy is getting played out and annoying
Yeah. Bauer was lights-out last year, but no way in hell is he worth a Gerrit Cole type contract.
I would gladly take both Tanaka and Quintana over Bauer any day. IMO, Trevor thinks he’s pumping his value by advertising himself; ironically, I believe he’s black-listing himself.
Gerrit cole isn’t worth type contract
Yes he is. He’s a great pitcher. This year I think he gets a sub-3 ERA
I Agree
Waiting till after the virus clears is probably the best way to go if you can opt out whenever you want to. I dont see a big difference between 31 and 32, I mean it’s not like he’s getting a 6 year deal or anything. But if he truly just wants the challenge of mlb competition then moving sooner makes sense plus there is always the injury risk at that age of waiting another year. No clue on his injury history.
don’t fall for it.
If I was a betting man I’d say he signs with the Giants.
What if you were weren’t a betting man?
The rangers?
Man, I thought this joke was a layup… look closer.
Too soonnnnnnn , give us a day to recover.
He needs to consider too that last season was likely his career year. So if he goes back to Japan and has a good not great year, does he damage his standing with MLB suitors, being a year older and a lesser season immediately behind him?
These are my thoughts exactly. Does Sugano ever put up those numbers in Japan again or was that his peak season? Something he needs to consider and is a very valid point. Starting pitchers don’t typically get better in their 30s
So basically no update well fine out Thursday but expect to read 4 more updates. I hope to hear jays in on him at least 2 more times before he signs elsewhere
Japanese deGrom!
The Pirates made an offer.
MLB also promptly stepped in to inform them that unpaid internships aren’t allowed for players, so I heard.
I really don’t understand why the Angels wouldn’t make a move here. Japanese pitchers of his quality almost always tend to pan out for a reasonable price. If they are in… has anyone heard any chatter about it?
I haven’t heard a peep linking the Angels to him. As much as the Angels need pitching, I agree that it is bizarre they aren’t after him. The Astros are losing some key pieces this offseason. The Rangers and Mariners aren’t going anywhere. The A’s will be strong. So this could be a year where the Angels take on the Astros and A’s for the division. But Moreno always seems to run his team like someone playing fantasy baseball. Never quite makes sense…
There’s a belief that angels won’t get any other Japanese players, that it was a gentlemen’s agreement to keep Ohtani happy
Seriously? Perhaps I can negotiate a “gentlemen’s agreement” to be the only Jewish guy in these comment sections!
I really hope he signs with the Red Sox. I think he’d be a great fit for them and IF (and I realize it’s a big if) but IF Sale and E-Rod come back healthy and looking like themselves next season and Sugano joins them… they have the offense to actually launch themselves right back into a contending team. Granted they also desperately need a reliever or two… but signing Sugano would be a huge boost to their pitching staff and IF their other two top SPs come back at or near top form… they legitimately could be a playoff team again.
Y Your one of those delusional Red Sox fans who thinks they’re only one player away. Hey, your rotation sucks, with or without Sugano, Mookie is gone, so how do you think adding Sugano will put them “over the top?”
It really puzzles me too why the Angels aren’t in on either Sugano or Bauer. The rotation is clearly the weakest part of the team and Trout isn’t getting any younger.
Why would you bring up Mookie being gone as an issue? The Sox still have a potent lineup and showed that this past year. Losing their top 2 starting pitchers hurt them more than anything. Adding Sugano and getting E-Rod back fixes a lot of that. No, they’re not only 1 player away, but adding Sugano and a another decent reliever to the moves they already have made and they’re not in bad shape.
Mookie being gone is moot at this point. Its been a year and that no longer has any bearing on any players decision whether to sign with Boston or not.
Boston needs a #2/3 SP, a #5 SP who can eat innings, two or three RP one of which needs to have closer makeup, someone to plug at 2B, and an OF who has true CF stuff.
Fill that wishlist and they’re a contender.
Why do people not understand Boston ranked 2020 on purpose? They got under the tax, then held back any semblance of pitching until they guaranteed they were out of it. The offense was still fine with down to no year from JD and Beni and a hole at 2B. Offense will be fine and they already add back ERod at some level, Houck, Pivetta, part of a season for Sale. A few pitching additions, rotation or bullpen and they can easily be competitive this year.
Tanked 2020, just to be clear.
Well Goingyard the rotation did suck last year but I’ll venture to guess you take the top 2 starters off of just bout any team and there rotation would suck. If Erod and Sale come back fully healthy and the Sox sign Sugano there rotation would be pretty damn good. My belief is 2022 is a more realistic year for the Red Sox to be back in the playoffs but, and as Jeff said a big if. Sale and Erod return healthy and they sign Sugano they could be a playoff team this year that’s absolutely true.
Based on track record, I would bet Giants or Mariners by default
Regardless of those opt-outs and economic uncertainty, if he’s going to make the jump it makes the most sense to do it this year because of his age.
There’s nothing left to prove in Japan. If he has another great year his stock won’t really go up anymore, but if he has a bad year people will view it as the beginning of him declining in his 30s. If he really wants to play in the MLB, this is the year for him to come.
He’ll ink a 5 year $100 million deal with Pittsburgh
Funniest post of the year (to date)!
It will not be Toronto. Atkins has his thumb up his A$$.
Which player is he again? There are so many new Japanese and Korean players wanting to jump to the Major Leagues that I can’t keep track of it, and it’s pretty unbelievable that there are no algorithms or sabermetrics invented yet that can compute and translate Japanese statistics to MLB equivalencies. I really hate having to judge a player based on old-fashioned statistics (wins, home runs, ERA, etc.), but sadly that’s what we have to do with Japanese players.
Actually, a lot of work has been done – by FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, etc. – to translate stats from foreign leagues to MLB equivalencies. I don’t know if they’re published for Sugano yet.
soooo you don’t have time to look up who he is, but you DO have time to check into all of the sabermetrics. RIGHT…..
Part of the reason there are so many players from Japan and Korea looking to jump to the majors this winter is because of the circumstances. Those leagues played a full season last year, of at least close to one. That provides a lot better volume of games to judge them by than anything someone who played that 60-game “season” we had here. And for pitchers that’s especially a concern because asking guys who topped out at 40-50 innings pitched in 2020 to jump back to the 170-200 innings a starter can expect in a full season is a recipe for injury. Someone like Sugano is a better bet to hold up for the full 2021 season than even someone like Bauer.
Sugano pitched ~130 innings each of the last 2 years; Bauer pitched 73.0 last year. I’ll take my chances on Bauer.
Bauer has also had an ERA over 4 in 4 of his 6 full seasons in the majors. Giving $35M+ per year to him vs signing Sugano for much, much less doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Bauer has the better upside, but is it a $20m+/yr better upside? I’d argue he has just as good of a chance to be a 3 or 4 as a 1 or 2. Sugano is likely a 3-4, but that “extra” $20m can be spent on another SP and maybe an RP to help mitigate the risk. It should also be a shorter contract, so that matters too.
Bauer is talking about $35m-$40m/AAV, which is nuts. Sugano is likely in the ~$10-$14m range.
WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO,
Mr. Sugano
… please enjoy the visiting team’s shower and sauna facilities.
And watch where you walk on the streets..just because the giants are crappy doesnt mean the streets have to be too
if I were him I wouldn’t wait. pitchers don’t age well as we have seen
He waits till next year, he’ll have a lot more competition.
No mention of the Angels, Dodgers, or Mariners. Perhaps Sugano is thinking east if he wants to play in a “big market”. Could come down to the Red Sox or Mets (unless the Yankees come out of nowhere)
He’d fill a big need for the Mets. Controllable arm, slots in as a 3-4, and they are 1 more Odorizzi type starter away from solidifying their pitching staff.
Mets need him Badly and Will Will probably get him.
Sounds like Mets aren’t interested.
They were, but NY doesn’t have nice enough weather.
As a NYer, that’s fair. Haha. Still, it seems Cohen isn’t being as reckless with his money as fans hoped. This could be a good thing.
Gut feel…. Boston
A lot of milage on this arm… Want the Mets to pass on him
mets or jays. i’ve got appx. 90% covered.
The Mets need some sugar.
The Mets can get Sugano, Odorizzi and something else for the price of Bauer, let Bauer go to the Angels lol. Sign Springer OR DJ and JBJ.
Anywhere but Toronto. That way we get to see the internet tantrum and the toys come flying out of the pram.
how do you figure? I have been a Jays fan for 30 yrs and I find we typically just accept the fact that the big $ free agents usually do not come here. It sucks but thats how it usually goes. I hope we get a couple this year because I think this team is close to being good but I will not be shocked when we have to get a couple mid tier guys instead.
Because for every one of you BrianS, there are two (Ramon ParraGarcia and Werealljustguestshere in this thread already) starting their whinging already to prove my point. If posters like you outnumbered the whinge brigade, you’d be right, but unfortunately for the rest of us Canada appears to have more of the others than there are of you.
The day you have a point, or a coherent sentence, will be your first. Whinging? Go back to class toolbag.
No offense, but you sound like a fool trying to act like you have a valid beef against the entire Jays fanbase because you can cite a handful of Jays fans on MLBTR that you don’t like.
Your comment makes no sense,. Us Jays fans don’t throw tantrums. Sounds like a comment from a sore loser on Mets bowing out. I so hope the Blue Jays get him and Springer just to see you throw your tantrum. That said, I would much rather have J.Bradley and Lemahieu or Realmuto over Springer.
Eddie if you can formulate thoughts with facts you’d have a point. You’ve never been able to do that.
Jays fans might be upset over a lack of desire to compete or have any interest in top FA. Losing out on guys is something we can accept. Not attempting to get players while contending is different. Figure it out.
You’re such victims.,The toys are flying already. ‘Lack of desire to compete’? ‘No interest in top free agents’? ‘Not attempting to get players’? Some KBO guy signs in San :Diego and this is evidence of any of that? The pout masters are getting a running start here.
Nobody is playing the victim but please stop whining. You aren’t bright enough to articulate rational thought.
Yankees sitting out ANOTHER pitcher i guess….
Not a guess, a fact: He won’t sign with the Indians or Spiders.
I don’t mean this as a slight against Sugano in any way, but I think the Mets need to make a safer investment with all of the SP question marks they already have.
he’s much safer at 15 million then Bauer at 40.
As a met fan I’m really disappointed to hear this
Yes, of course.
I don’t think Bauer’s getting 40MM anyway, and FWIW I don’t want or expect the Mets to sign him.
Of course Mets are out … their international scouting is crap and do not understand how good this guy is for 10-15mm per. Let’s see what Mets end up with this off-season after Cohen teasing and promising fans the moon all winter long.
All over the Internet, I see Mets fans acting like whiny brats because Cohen hasn’t already signed Springer, Bauer, Willie Mays and Pablo Sanchez with room to maybe bring in Yogi Berra and Roberto Clemente later on.
Mets fans were promised that the team would be active in free agency, which they have been and likely will continue to be throughout the offseason.
No bro, you got it wrong. We don’t hope for Bauer he is a hard pass, but this guy is a low-ris- no brainer. Don’t sign Bauer, don’t even sign springer. Get Sugano and another reliable arm, plus JBJ in center maybe trade for a strong 3rd to make up for the power bat.
Also, no we are not spoiled brats if we’ven spent past decades in Wilson’s basement and finally seeing sunlights.
My wife and her family are Yankees fans. I took her to a game two years ago and someone walking by in a Wilpons Suck jersey perfectly illustrated the animosity I was trying to explain.
The Wlpons ruined the Mets and it’s exciting to finally have real support for the team. Considering Cohen’s resources and the options available, we’re hoping to see the shift from clown academy to big-league club imminently.
Exactly, you can’t ask an inmate who just got release from a life long sentence to eat slowly at the buffet table.
Mets have turned their attention to BIG SEXY!! (Nightengale just reported it, so it must be true).
Kevin nash?
Baseball is a better game with Big Sexy in it!
thank the Lord
What kind of pitcher is he? What are his pitches? What is the velocity on those pitches? Is there a scouting report on him? His performance in High-A ball tells us nothing.
He *can* hit mid 90’s with his fastball, but he sits in the low 90’s. He is a control pitcher, but he does it so well that it is hard for him t make mistakes. He’s the Zack Greinke of the NPB if that makes sense. His main pitches are a 4-seamer, sinker, slider, cutter, and curve with the occasional splitter too.
Never mind. He throws low-90s with a low-80s slider and a high-80s split and has good command on all of those.
@Questinable_Source There’s tons of scouting on him. Here’s a helpful article: sportsinfosolutionsblog.com/2020/11/06/npb-scoutin…
Most experts see him as a solid middle of the rotation guy.
This Mets $hit is getting old now! At this point I cant understand how we keep letting pitching go with what Cohen promised. Sugano was a no brainer especially going into a year were no mlb pitcher went above 60 innings. Sugano at the very least would of giving us innings on a teamed besides Degrom starved for pitching and no were near a great starting rotation.
theyve already added May and McCann which is more then most teams have done this offseason. relax. there are months left to go.
Dont need to relax, its the delusional met fan that keeps saying be patient. All I’m saying is Sugano was a good fit on a team starved for pitching.
How do you know that they let Sugano go? It could be that Sugano told the Mets that he did not want to go there. I never could understand the fan mindset that assumes that any team can just go and obtain any free agent player that they choose to. A player needs to accept a contract offer in order for a team to acquire them. No team can force a player to sign a contract.
I heard the Blue Jays are interested in Sugano too. Be mad at them.
LOL! The Jays are interested and in on every player that is on the market. Same with the Mets, Yankees Dodgers and this year, the Padres.
The Yankees?
The Yankees? The Yankees have expressed almost no interest in anyone other than DJ. The Dodgers have had a much more limited appetite than you suggest, too.
This year. Every other years, the Yanks are one of those few teams that “are in ” with every player available. It is nice not to see them listed as a suiter for every player for just one year. They were replaced with the Padres this season. Just wait a year when Covid-19 will not be a factor in how teams are run and the Yanks will be one of the couple of teams interested in everyone again.
The media and agents like to attach the Yankees to name free agents. They’re actually one of the easier teams to read regarding which free agents they’re interested in.
I’m shocked the Mets haven’t consulted you in regards to pitching. Sorry you can’t understand what they’re doing.
Walley
2 hours ago
This Mets $hit is getting old now!
———————————————————
Here’s the thing Walley, if you don’t apy attention to the news, you cannot comment appropriately. Here is a list of the top SP FAs, by MLB-R:
Bauer
Stroman
Gausman
Tanak
Odorizzi
Quintana
Paxton
Walker
Richards
Kluber
Now, when you get a chance to do some research, let me know how many they signed, and how many they missed out on.
Here the thing Brady, if you dont read the original comment correct then you cant appropriately comment.
No one asked for mlbs top free agent starters and even if I had with the exception of Bauer, Gausman and Tanaka the remaining free agents on your list didnt even combine for 50 innings pitched total. Yes we missed out on Morton and Smyle (at no great lose) but what I said was sugano is a no brainer to bolster are staff in a upcoming year where you dont know how many innings you’ll get from even the best pitchers in the league.
Now, when you get a chance to do some research and decide what pitchers on that list will best help us make up the 1,400 plus innings pitched needed this year, let me know.
Your initial reply comment was snobbish, matter of factly and in total dbag response. That type of $hit is why met fans get a bad name!
This is what you said:
“At this point I cant understand how we keep letting pitching go with what Cohen promised.”
1-So far, you’ve lost out on exactly no one. Gausman you had no shot at, and you offered Stroman a QO, and he accepted. So out of all the top-10 FAs that you could’ve signed, you have signed 100% of them.
2-You don’t have any idea of why the NYMs are out of the Sugano sweepstakes. Maybe he said he won’t sign for an east coast team. This has happened plenty of times. Maybe he has an offer of $100M/5 on the table, and that the next counter has to be $110M or better.
3-Maybe the NYMs aren’t even out of it. Maybe the agent planted that story to push the NYMs to up their offer.
FWIW, I am not a NYMs fan. I am a RS fan, and I see plenty of RS fans in here whining every single time another team signs a FA, as if the RS are entitled to every FA, and have the pocketbook for every FA.
Don’t sweat it until you see a significant number of FA pitchers coming off the board. The fact that they NYMs haven’t signed anyone, that have not signed with anyone, is indicative of nothing.
I’m starting to like him for Boston, but my guess is that someone will outbid us in terms of years. I’m hoping for three years, even at an elevated salary, but I would not be surprised if someone went five years. SF or LAA is my guess.
4/$52M from Boston…bang, done!
Dont need to relax, its the delusional met fan that keeps saying be patient. All I’m saying is Sugano was a good fit on a team starved for pitching.
Good, the only good japanese signing they ever did was Matsuzaka and 2 good starts from takahashi? Against the yankees…..,,kaz matsui was only good for opening day,shinjo wasn’t good at all kaz ishii stunk, nomo was an ok 2 month rental……
And nomo is a good trivia question..the only man to pitch a no hitter before he joined the mets and pitch one after he left the mets…ppl forgot he was even there.
I like the Cardinals as a sleeper to get him. They have the need and have been active in that market last few years. I know Dewitt basically said they are not adding payroll but he could be a good value get to help that rotation in a very winnable division.
Hopefully this is a bit of an entitlement check for some Mets fans, and expectations are tempered just a little bit. It’s easy to understand the anxiety a lot of them have because its the Mets, but the level of expectations some are setting just because the new owner has signaled he’s ready to spend is a little over the top.
Remember some were calling the mets the dodgers of east and that they’ll get bauer, springer, and realmuto. Now reality settles in and so does the coping
And apparently, some thought the Mets were so good that they didn’t even need those guys to be better than the Dodgers.
No Mets fan Ik said that. We are probably getting springer. Just wait a little more….. we said we would get 1 big FA and other guys too.
I wonder why the Mets have passed him?
Maybe Sugano passed on the Mets?
I doubt it. Not many people would pass on the Mets with Cohen.
LOL! For a Japanese player, the extra 2 1/2 hours flight time plus more flights per day from California to Japan each day could make a huge difference. On top of that, another poster commented that Sugano has a concern about Covid-19. NYC has the highest death rate from Covid-19 in the country. That may also be a deciding factor why he does not wish to live and play in NYC.
@MetsFan22 My friend, this is why people call you delusional. Baseball is a career choice. Plenty of people have no desire to live on the East Coast. Plenty of people have no desire to live in NY. The Mets aren’t some magical paradise. They are much improved, but still finished dead last in the 2020 season. I’m not saying I expect them to be bad in 2021. I’m just pointing out that it’s not some magical team with a magical owner. There are a lot of reasons for a player to desire another destination. Just as there are reasons for a player to choose the Mets.
I wasn’t talking about a magical paradise. What I meant is that suganos team wouldn’t say or let the Mets or other teams that they lost interest even if didn’t want to play for us bc it’s easy to use Cohen for leverage.. most likely we stopped having interest.
I could definitely see how sugano doesn’t want to play for us. But it’s still most likely the Mets said no. Suganos agent would use us for more money and go somewhere else without telling us he didn’t have interest.
Sugano’s agent would do what Sugano wants. If he doesn’t want to play for the Mets, maybe he wouldn’t waste their time. Maybe the Mets aren’t interested. We honestly have no idea.
Sugano’s agent does not have an extended period to drag out negotiations and try to play teams off of each other. He has a deadline. It is in a couple of days. The agent can’t waste anymore time with a team that the player is now no longer interested in. He would be finishing negotiations with one or two teams so his client will have a deal to sign before the deadline comes.
We all know the Mets didn’t want him.
Good.
The odd part of all this Sugano speculation is that we readers don’t have all the facts and are somehow being asked to “guess” via a poll, of where he goes.
One article recently said he’s worried about C19.
This article now informs the readers he has a good offer in hand in Japan.
Why don’t we just let this play out and let’s just see what happens on Thursday.
If Sugano’s in a position to be “selective” and “have all his boxes checked” then why hasn’t there been an article, in detail, on what each of those boxes are and what weight Sugano places on each box.
Or is that asking too much of a reporter?
Generally, agents and players do not like to make public what they are looking for in a new destination. It what they are looking for is made public, teams that do not have enough of those boxes checked would just drop out of the bidding and the team(s) that the player is most interested in playing for would not have to bid as much for his services. If he is indeed worried about Covid-19, that would explain why he would not want to live and play in NYC. The city has the highest Covid-19 death rate in the country.
We only have the highest rate in the world because Dr. Cuomo insisted that elderly Covid patients needed to be in old-age homes, along side other elderly folks. Because the elderly are practically immune from Covid, and because old-age facilities are saturated with people and equipment trained to deal with pandemics.
The high Covid rate in NY is because of NYC’s population density. NYC population is well over 2X’s LA. 10,000 people per city block. Wrap your head around that. Picture it. Social distancing is a factor and it’s virtually impossible in NYC. The fact that they were able to cut the death rate down to 50 or less per day for a few months was nothing short of amazing given the challenge of NYC. And TX had a higher rate than NY for most of December. Then they magically slowed down without any change in policy.
Did you miss the title of this site? This site is for trade rumors and trade facts. Maybe this site isnt your thing because most of us are here to speculate trades and FA signings. We’re just a bunch of masochists enjoying the pain in here. =D
You’re overanalyzing. Fans like to guess.
Mets front office once again being lazy and complacent. Acting like Degrom is going to pitch 4 times a week. Sugano has frontline potential and would cost a third of what Bauer wants. Letting Wheeler walk continues to look worse by the minute.
I agree about Sugano. But wheeler wasn’t Cohen/sandy. He would probably still be a Met.
Ya, you can’t hold that against the new front office. Anything before this offseason isn’t their responsibility.
Also, I really don’t think Sugano is so good and important that you ought to react this way to the Mets maybe not pursuing him so hard.
If you start seeing the top 5 free agents all go away without Cohen signing anyone then maybe you can start being disappointed. I think you really should reserve judgement until free agents actually start moving and the offseason develops a lot more.
Yeah Mets fan need to be patient. It was obvious we wouldn’t get the 3 most expensive guys. I only expected one. (Springer) but even then I need to evaluate at the ends of the year.
When you mean patient do you mean another 34 years? Mets fans need to be realistic about state of the team. It’s stupid to overpay for Bauer because you didn’t pay Wheeler. It’s silly to pay Springer at 31 years old when you already have Nimmo. We already have a top 5 offense Sugano would’ve been a calculated risk but a logical solution without destroying your payroll when you know that this is the walk year for Conforto and Syndergaard.
You don’t know what Sugano is but the majority of aces from Japan usually fit right into the middle of an MLB rotation. I rather have Sugano who’ve seen pitch for 50-60mil instead of Bauer for 125mil plus. I’m a realistic Mets fan you can’t pour dooky on pancakes and tell me its syrup. All you see the Mets do over the years is take one step forward and two steps back.Instead of adding and retaining the proper pieces to contend every year they make excuses for failure and the fans just accept it. We realistically need two reliable starters to give Atlanta a proper challenge. Overpaying for Bauer or Springer isn’t ideal with Conforto and Syndergaard in their walk years.
That’s true but it’s not like the Mets didn’t have the money to keep Wheeler. Add up the money BWW gave Cano, Familla and Lowrie and there’s your money for Wheeler. More importantly Wheeler wouldn’t have cost 115mil if the Mets had extended him when they were supposed to. BWW could’ve easily sold the Wilpons on retaining Wheeler when he got Degrom his money. That’s the job of the GM he’s just a high profile salesman. Wilpons weren’t as cheap as you thought or you’ve been lead to believe. Didn’t they have money for Beltran, Bay and Cespedes? The Wilpons biggest flaw was trusting guys like Minaya and BWW to run this team. They undid all of Alderson’s good work in 2 seasons smh.
1-You don’t know that Sugano has frontline potential-none of do.
2-What Bauer wants and what he gets, are two different things. I seriously, seriously doubt he gets 3x what Sugano gets. My guess for Sugano starts with $80M/4, and could go higher.
3-Actually taking the time to write “Acting like Degrom is going to pitch 4 times a week.” is just an absolute waste of time. You might be the only person in the world that thinks that. And I mean ‘literally’ the only person to believe that.
Sugano is getting nowhere near 4/80. He doesn’t come with Tanaka’s pedigree and he’s already 32. Tanaka was 25-26 when got that money.Four years 60 mil sounds a little more accurate to me. The Angels or Blue Jays will offer Bauer a contract in the 125-150 mil range because pitching is at a premium and he’s the top guy in a bad pitching market. Like most of my fellow Met fans you’re delusional because we can’t trust anybody on this staff besides Degrom. Stroman is average and Peterson is still learning. Losing a frontline starter like Wheeler to a division rival created a lot of problems and set the team back 3-5 years but I’m sure you’ll try to downplay that because this team has made you cool with mediocrity.
Like most of my fellow Met fans you’re delusional
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I’m a RS fan, but I see a lot of similarities between the two teams. We both need two SPs. Bruin sees Sugano as a $50M/4. As a RS fan, I see that as an easy sign. Even at your $60M/4, I see that as a reasonable signing. Which is why I think someone will outbid us.
Both the SFG and LAA need pitching, both have spending capacity, and both are large markets that could gain some leverage their marketing with a big Japanese name.
I’d like to get him, but think we will be outbid.
Out here in Queens I believe there should be more of a sense of urgency with the Mets front office and the fanbase. I mean its only been 34 years. You’ve seen your Red Sox win twice in the last 7 years so you have something to fall back on despite the fact that they ridiculously traded the best player in the game because they didn’t want to pay him what he was worth. That would really piss me off as a fan. You build around Mookie.
Betts wasn’t signing with the RS. The RS offered him the same as the LAD did, albeit pre-Covid. And he signed with LA almost right after the trade.. He didn’t want to stay. That was his right, and a well-deserved right imo. We had no choice but to trade him.
Somewhere along the line, some people get the idea that no one would ever want to leave their city.
And even if we had the choice between signing him until age 39 for $300M+, or getting a worser, but still an AS-level player, for minimum wage, I’d make that trade every day. I wouldn’t even think twice.
That’s unfortunate I’m glad I got the rundown from a BoSox fan who knew details about the situation. In NY we got a different story they made it look like the Sox were so far over the luxury tax that they couldn’t pay him. It was never stated in the media that Mookie wanted out. In that case the Sox did what they had to do. Verdugo and Jeter Downs will be in their lineup for years to come.
There are a lot of facets to it. I see this in one of two ways.
1-When a player is one year away from free agency, his core value is simply the financial equivalent of his WAR, less his salary. Maybe $9M * an expected 7 WAR, or $63M, minus salary of ~$30M, for a net of $33M. Based on Verdugo’s production, he should easily be worth $33M, and using $9M/WAR, maybe worth more like $180M, less salary.
2-A second way of looking at is similar, but basically, how much total WAR is being traded. Extrapolating the shortened season, my ballpark guess is that we get 20 WAR from Verdugo, and we are giving up ~ 7 WAR, plus we get Downs & Wong.
So, disregarding the issue of free agency, the RS are way, way ahead. The only way to justify not trading him is if we can re-sign him. The issue with this is that, a) we don’t know if he’d have re-signed, and b) we don’t know if we should re-sign him. Over the past 20 years, the number of players 37-39 with a 10+ WAR over those 3 years is 3, and Bonds was a PED user, making that really only two.
Irregardless of the trade, I don’t really want to pay players until they are 39.
The Red Sox also lost whatever WAR Price is going to be putting up for the rest of his contract. The Sox will be paying $16 million per year for whatever WAR he puts up for the Dodgers. This doesn’t totally change your narrative but the Sox didn’t exactly make out like bandits either.
It’s a valid point. Especially when I have to watch the Mets pay Robinson Cano until he’s 41 smh. Mookie Betts however is a generational talent I could make a case that in the friendly confines of Fenway Park he might still be an above average player till he’s 40 although the odds are against him. He could’ve easily brought an additional 2-4 WS championships to Boston in the next decade. But if they knew he was going to walk you have to make the business decision.
I like Price, but I also don’t think he is a $16M pitcher any more. The way I look at is, if you could sign Price for $32M/2, would you do so? I don’t think it is crazy money, but I don’t think I’d pay him that.
Price is definitely worth 16 mil a year to the Dodgers. They have a top 3 offense and he still pitches to 3.50-4 ERA. He’s like an automatic 12-16 win pitcher for them. He’ll also be healthy since he basically had an entire season off to get shape. Good luck against LA with him as your #3 with Buehler and Kershaw in October. He just pitched your team to the WS championship 3 years ago. We’re talking about David Price not Rich Hill bro.
Interesting comparison, since Hill is one of the guys I’d like the RS to sign. From 2017-2019, you choose which set of stats you like best:
Player A-29-15 3.75 ERA 3.82 FIP 122 ERA+ 3.59 K/W
Player B-27-14 3.30 ERA 3.89 FIP 122 ERA+ 3.59 K/W
Except for the ERA, which has some variance to it, they are probably the two most identical sets of stats out of any two major league pitchers. Three years of identical ERA+ and K/W? David Price is Rich Hill.
Except that this the real world where Rich Hill isn’t David Price. Rich Hill not carrying you to a championship an analytics can only get you so far. Price has been hurt the last few years while Hill has been hurt his entire career. I prefer to look at these numbers.
Price: 39.4 WAR 150-80 3.31ERA 311 GS 2029.2 IP 1981Ks 1.153 WHIP
Hill: 14.3 WAR 67-44 3.79ERA 164 GS 976.0 IP 1035Ks 1.222 WHIP
Does this look like the same pitcher to you? Hill has been in the league 3 years longer than Price is 6 years older and has under 1000 IP for his career. C’mon bro that ridiculous. Rich Hill has never pitched 200 innings in his life.
If your season is on the line and its game 7 of the ALCS or WS are you pitching David Price or Rich Hill? What do the analytics say lol?
I really highly doubt Sugano gets anywhere near 4/80. If that is the case then it’s a hard pass. I’m guessing more like 4/50.
Sugano is not getting 4/80 or close to it..
When you mean patient do you mean another 34 years? Mets fans need to be realistic about state of the team. It’s stupid to overpay for Bauer because you didn’t pay Wheeler. It’s silly to pay Springer at 31 years old when you already have Nimmo. We already have a top 5 offense Sugano would’ve been a calculated risk but a logical solution without destroying your payroll when you know that this is the walk year for Conforto and Syndergaard.
Not surprising that the Mets aren’t involved in ‘bidding’ given that no ‘bidding’ takes place.
He will look good in a blue jay uniform
This is less of a comment on Sugano, but more on the Mets. As an organization, they may believe they lack the infrastructure, from both an international scouting and internal analytics point, to be comfortable making a decision on how Sugano will translate to the majors. They may be dealing with a “Wilpon overhang” for at least another year as they build up other parts of their operation to the point when they feel comfortable making more nuanced decisions on player evaluation. It’s easier to focus on a known player such as Springer compared to Sugano. It’s also possible Cohen suspects that perhaps the Mets jumped the market unnecessarily on players like McCann and May, overpaying by millions. He has the money, but every million more a team pays will eventually impact them in subsequent seasons as they hit the higher end of the luxury tax. If Sugano isn’t good, he’ll cost millions that could be directed elsewhere and they may simply want to focus those resources on more sure things.
Or he could be blowing smoke up the ass of the Mets fanbase. We shall see.
Hah, knew it. No ways Mets were getting him.
Dear Jerry, Please send Ichiro to get this signing done.
So much for that poll
Domo arigato Mr. Sugano, welcome to Boston!