8:03pm: Sugano has re-signed with Yomiuri on a four-year, $40MM contract, per Rosenthal. The deal includes three opt-out chances, so Sugano will have future opportunities to become a major leaguer.
4:05pm: Nippon Professional Baseball right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano did not reach an agreement with a major league team before his 5 p.m. ET posting deadline Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. That means Sugano will remain in Japan in 2021, though he will be eligible to come to MLB as a free agent next winter.
NPB’s Yomiuri Giants posted the 31-year-old Sugano for major league clubs a month ago, and with the likes of Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman off the free-agent board, Sugano looked like one of the most appealing starters available on the open market. As a result, several teams – including the Padres, Giants, Mets, Blue Jays, Rangers and Red Sox – vied for Sugano in recent weeks. The Padres were even in negotiations with Sugano on Thursday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. In the end, though, neither they nor any other big league club could pry him from his homeland.
Sugano will remain a member of the Yomiuri Giants, with whom he has dominated since making his pro debut in 2013. Sugano owns a stellar 2.34 ERA over 1,362 innings with the Giants, and he has won two MVPs and a pair of Pitcher of the Year awards in Japan. He’ll make around $8MM with the Giants in 2021, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relays. With another excellent season, though, Sugano could wind up in a major league uniform before the 2022 campaign.
clrrogers
Damnit, Blue Jays!!
jdgoat
I know, the names are quickly coming off the board now and they should be one of the teams acting like the Mets and Padres. If they don’t bring in one of the four remaining big FA’s this offseason will be a massive disappointment, unless they manage to swing a trade. I feel like they’re unwilling to trade from the upper minors at this point though.
dobsonel
Are you a Jays fan? If so do you think these players keep passing on the Jays?
Robertowannabe
Could be the Covid-19 restrictions that they faced in 2020. Are they going to be forced to play in Buffalo again? Could be the unknowns about the upcoming season. Just opining.
Murphy NFLD
Im starting to feel very pessimistic about the jays off-season, I think playing in buffalo/Dunedin is a big part of it. I now feel they wont get any major free agents, unless they give turner his 4 years or go 30+ per season on springer or JTR which any sane fan wouldn’t want them to do.
I think they will have to trade at this point, i bet the ask was biggio in a lindor trade. i think they should go after jose Ramirez for 3b now with CLE clearly trading away $$$, i think Bryant is a distant 2nd option.
As a side i think cronnenworth of the padres is worth looking i to
Jaysfan1981
I remember seeing that Ramirez is on a team friendly deal, therefore Cleveland wasn’t interested in trading him.
I feel like Bryant is the next logical trade candidate for the Jays, Taking on all his salary and risking him not resigning should mitigate the prospect cost considerably. Using the Lindor trade as a barometer, We are looking at a trade that wouldn’t sting and leave the big bullets for a SP trade if we don’t sign Bauer
MarkoRock68
Ramirez with that contract has a ton of surplus value think Groshans and Gurriel to get him .
I agree Byrant as a target- cost alot less.
JaysForDays
Arenado would be a nice trade pc
Le Grande Orangerie
The players want to come. I mean, Kawhi re-upped with the Raptors right away after winning the title because playing in Canada, in Toronto, is just the height of heights. All young baseball players in Japan grow up fantasizing about playing in Canada for the Toronto Blue jays. The problem is that the front office and the owner don’t care about winning. They just spent $80M on Riu last year but it doesn’t count because they have let players slide this year. Like the KBO guy I never heard of before and this guy who I also had never heard of. So I’m throwing my toys out of the pram, Signed, Toronto Blue Jays Internet.
citizen928
The Jays possibly passed on him.
He was likely looking for more than the $40 million over four he re-signed with, and with the addition of the posting fee on top of the that offer, they (like every other team) probably weren’t willing to match it.
The-Two-Germanys
“ All young baseball players in Japan grow up fantasizing about playing in Canada for the Toronto Blue jays.”
That’s a curious article of faith. I’ve certainly never heard that before.
Rsox
Weed is legal in Canada. Explains the article of faith…
Down with OBP
Sorry….what players have passed on the Jays? We talking 2 posted players and 1 signed with no MLB team? Gausman count? How many of the top free agents are off the board?
Joe Carters walkoff
A few rumors were out there that he was asking for 15 mil a year to sign in mlb and make the move to North America. Thats quite a bit for an unknown commodity
Joe Carters walkoff
A few rumors were out there that he was asking for 15 mil a year to sign in mlb and make the move to North America. Thats quite a bit for an unknown commodity
bluewho
It’s called sarcasm.
thareignman
Kawhi left the Raptors for the Clippers…
its_happening
Looks like you’ll need to do an edit on your Sugano > Walker crap. Hard to assess when the guy hasn’t thrown a single pitch in the major leagues.
Calm down. Now is not the time to fret.
SCHWING and A Miss
It’s old Shatkins all over again, they’re in on everyone (supposedly) yet end up with no one….prospects are all good but if you can’t get free agents to sign here, you gotta move them out. I had a ton of optimism when the off-season started, now….not so much
jdgoat
They did get Ryu last year and none of the big four for this year has signed yet. It will be a failure if they don’t land one of them or make a big trade this offseason though.
SCHWING and A Miss
Jays outbid everybody for Ryu, I get that’s how it works but they always have to add years or give more….that’s how it probably plays out again. Just Springer or just J.T. or even just Bauer without additional moves is like just Ryu last year, moves the needle a bit but won’t provide a major impact
its_happening
Schwing you make a good point. This is where ownership has to step in to say “let’s go for it”, otherwise it’s the usual Rogers bargain hunting. 20 years strong.
Jays need an arm. Signing a position player means they need to make a trade for an arm or two. No excuses for Toronto not to sign a top guy considering the lack of competition for offseason spending.
SCHWING and A Miss
Agree….young core is only cheap and young for so young, it feels like it’s time to go balls out!
SCHWING and A Miss
*for so long
its_happening
At first I thought you were quoting R Kelly.
SCHWING and A Miss
LOL, but yikes!
User 2802304835
David Fletcher is not pleased
ABCD
You must not be doing it right.
User 2802304835
🙁
I Beg To Differ
Is what cub fans said about Hoyer
JayKay
Not big soup rice.
AndyWarpath
I wouldn’t want to come to the states after yesterday either.
kingken67
I was wondering if that might have been a factor too.
Robertowannabe
Could be the riots that have happened all over the country for months. Whole lot more unrest in many of the major cities that would be hosting games.
goob
I don’t want to argue the point – but whatever similarities exist within the situations you’re comparing – they are not equivalent on several levels – and in massively consequential ways.
dilson_herrera
Congrats on saying absolutely nothing while also preemptively getting offended that people will disagree with you
I Beg To Differ
Has more to do with money and years than anything else.
31 years old. No/limited revenue in 2020. I wonder what the top offer for his services was over how many years. Id guess 8 mill or below and less than 4 years.
Which, if your home team is offering more why not take the money and years at 31.
DarkSide830
i agree, but i was half wondering if that might have been the final piece of the puzzle. as in he wasnt sure yet, but that made him more sure of his previous stance.
kingken67
If he really thinks next winter is gonna be a better bet for him he got some bad advice. Between being a year older and the uncertainty about the new CBA that is almost a certainty to still be under negotiations next winter he’s not going to find any better offers than he got this time around.
HalosHeavenJJ
Comforts of home plus good money is hard to turn down.
Especially when we don’t know for sure how the season will develop here, if the CBA will be renewed/renegotiated for next year, etc.
Tons of family and baseball reasons for this decision and it had to be made by today.
scottn59c
He got greedy and asked for more money than the market was willing to bear out. Now, he’ll have to deal with being 32 and whatever Covid brings.
Good luck in Japan, dude. I don’t think MLB is going to come calling again.
philliesphan77
You sound pleasant
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
He was offered more by at least one MLB team
biller
Strike 2 today Blue Jays
Randy Red Sox
strike THREE Red Sox
Rsox
A side from Sugano who did the Red Sox miss on? They were never in on Lindor
ABCD
Sayonara Sugano!
LordD99
Can we say sayonara before we even say hello?!
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
Didn’t he come to the U.S?
TennVol
Blue Jays: always the Brides Maid, never the Bride. Always looking, never buying. Always teasing, but, never putting out. That’s the Jays off season in a nut shell.
Bochys Retirement Fund
Blue Jays: “You can look, but you can not touch ;)”
ukpadre
He wasn’t worth what he was asking though. As frustrated as Jays fans might be at not making signings, it doesn’t mean you should panic and make stupid ones out of desperation. Those are the kind of decisions that hurt you later down the line when it matters.
GarryHarris
I agree. I don’t think Tomoyuki Sugano is worth taking the risk at his asking price. In Japan, he was great 2016-2018. He fell off in 2019 but had a slight comeback in 2020 but not to where he peaked in 2018. He’s aging fast. At BEST, he’s a 3 starter. There’s no shortage of old free agent pitchers who will be better for less.
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
Have you seen him pitch? He is disgusting
Le Grande Orangerie
Blue Jays fans are a parody.
Rangers29
SH*T.
This was a starter I desperately wanted the Rangers to grab, yet Sugano’s price tag was too high for everybody. That’s a shame.
iml12
The move wouldn’t make very little sense for the Rangers unless they got him for a bargain.
Rangers29
I was also think 3 for 30-35, so that would’ve been lower than what he was shooting for.
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
He wanted like 4 years 16 mil/yr didnt he?
Vizionaire
if he accepted 2 year deal and performed well he would get much larger contract in japan.
hossmandu
If he accepted a 2yr deal and performed well he would get a much larger MLB contract. LOL
Baseball 1600
This gives me the feeling the Giants will be pushing hard for Bauer… seeing the Mets just got their splash in Carrasco/Lindor and the Padres have gotten their splash. It leaves Jays, Giants, and maybe the Dodgers or Angels.
iml12
I don’t understand why the Giants would make a huge pitching splash this year. I’d imagine they wait until some of their prospects start hitting the majors.
Baseball 1600
They’ve been connected the major SPs, my guess was they’d get Sugano, now their options are Odorizzi or Bauer.
hopper15
Giants aren’t signing either of them. There looking at options on a one year deal.
Randy Red Sox
same as the Red Sox
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
Well, as much as I want to say I don’t want him, he is a great pitcher and wants to pitch every 4th day, so a team like the Giants would be a good fit. He would improve the pitching staff greatly, and take up an extra spot in the rotation
champion1701
The Giants need lefties, as of now they have zero left handed starting pitchers.
scottn59c
Giants may add another SP, but it won’t be from the top tier of free agents.
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
Zaidi said they don’t have a preference for handedness in the rotation
TonyGwynnSD19
The Giants aren’t going to go after any ‘A’ list guys. No way. A huge waste of money. They’re awful and project to finish with a losing record. They don’t have the talent to justify spending any real money
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
Yeah well no talent was one game short of the postseason, and was strong enough to beat Kershaw 1-2 times, and were more competitive with the Dodgers than you think
dan55
The Giants out-performed expectations last year, so they deserve some credit. However, when you look at their roster, they don’t have the talent to compete with the Dodgers and Padres over the course of a full season. Spending stupid amounts of money on older free agents is not enough to close the gap for the Giants. They need to wait until their young prospects to come up to be competitive again.
GarryHarris
SFG will not sign an old veteran long term, especially not Sugano. Unless they are in solid contention in 2021, SFG does its best to try to unload Johnny Cueto, Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt by the trading deadline. They’re at the age where they could drop off suddenly and significantly and everyone but Longoria is a FA in 2022. Furthermore, Donovan Solano is at the same age. Kevin Gausman looks like he may have found himself but is also a FA 2022.
Nothing
FIRE SHATKINS
Taejonguy
Blue Jays need pitching but not Sugano. They need a more sure thing… If that even exists.
Sugano may not adjust to MLB and the money spent would have been wasted (see Shun Yamaguchi). It is better to save their resources and go for more established pitching – and now with the Mets likely out of the Bauer sweepstakes, perhaps they will be aggressive.
jdgoat
I agree, and I think the only sure thing they’ll be able to add to the rotation is through a trade. It’s too bad this wasn’t a stronger market for starting pitching, they would’ve been in a position to take advantage of it.
Taejonguy
Yeah, Bauer doesn’t strike me as wanting to come to Toronto. The reality is though, if the Jays don’t sign him, the best options really are through trades
looiebelongsinthehall
Who says the Mets are out of any bidding? Anyone see what Cohen made just last year? No one knows what he’s willing to do.
Ryan K
What an absolute shame. This guy is legit. But I think he’s going to end up regretting not signing with an MLB team this offseason – and instead rolling the dice by seeing if he can get more next year – because he’s already on the wrong side of 30 and this was one of best best seasons ever.
LordD99
He’s still only 31. Let’s not pretend he’s going to explode into dust. His ERA’s five of the last six years: 1.91, 2.01, 1.59, 2.14, and 1.97. For his career, it’s 2.34. Not including his won-loss record, which is even more team dependent than ERA, I could make an argument that any of those seasons were his best seasons. Each one had its own strengths. What jumps out is how consistently excellent he’s been.
He’s beloved in his homeland and is going to make $8M in 2021. No reason for him to take an under market deal to go pitch for the Mariners, or whatever team. Come back next year when the economic environment should be better. Any team negotiating with him now knows he will call their bluff. My guess is he’ll end up making more money in one year. 32 vs 31 is irrelevant as long as he stays healthy. The odds are with him. Worst that happens? He stays in the land he calls home and makes millions. Let’s not overthink it.
Taejonguy
8 million dollar in Japan is, standard of living wise, less than 8 million dollar in most North American cities. It is expensive to lu e there
DarkSide830
he’s probably moving back to Japan regardless after his MLB career, which may only be a few years.
troutfishing
I agree with lordd99, Look at Hiroki Kuroda’s move over the the MLB at age 32.
baseball-reference.com/players/k/kurodhi01.shtml
The consistency of that stat line from 32 – 39 is machine-like. Sugano is legit I sincerely believe he could put up comparable numbers.
thebaseballfanatic
Good lord…
I’ve never seen anything like that before. Every year… ERA and FIP around 3.5. Amazing.
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
Sugano is legit. His pitches have more rotation(I can’t remember the name of the stat) than the league average
Jaysfan1981
No big deal, calm down Jays fans, look how well Yamaguchi did since we signed him, Kikuchi in Seattle. Even the ones who have done well like Tanaka didn’t exactly become the best pitcher in baseball.
We will make a trade with Cincinnati or Pittsburgh for younger better SP.
2021 isn’t our year anyway, even if we sign Bauer DJ and Springer we probably aren’t beating the Dodgers or Padres this year.
Syndergard is a FA next year, We drafted him. We can throw 35 million a year at him and the Mets won’t have the payroll space to match without going deep into the tax.
2022 is more likely our year
Robertowannabe
Which Bucs pitchers would you like the Jays to get and what do you think that the Jays would give up ?
bleacherguy
If we land Realmuto, how about Jansen for Musgrove?
Robertowannabe
Who else? Not thinking a light hitting catcher i going to do the trick Remember Cherington knows the players that the Jays have.
Jaysfan1981
Taillon for Kirk, another prospect from the 10-20 ranked range and a low level lottery ticket
Musgrove for Jansen plus a prospect in the 25-35 range and maybe a lotto ticket
Kuhl for Mcguire straight up
Robertowannabe
@ jaysfan1981 Taillon sounds intriguing
not sure about Musgrove deal
Do not want Reese back
Dorothy_Mantooth
Both Pitt pitchers are going to cost a lot more than a catcher to acquire. You’d be looking at Kirk plus a pitcher in their 3-7 best prospect ratings to land Taillon, and a very similar package to get Musgrove too. Neither Kirk nor Jansen can be the headliner for either deal. They’d need to throw in a top pitching prospect to build the deal around.
its_happening
None from the Pirates. Would rather see a deal with the Reds for Castillo/Moustakas.
Jaysfan1981
Let’s expand it too
Castillo, Mustakas, Garret and Akiyama
Offer Kirk, Manoah, Martinez or Hiraldo and Grichuk (pay half or more of his salary)
Akiyama turned in an impressive 6-8 weeks to finish off the season after a terrible start, he could slot into the leadoff spot or 9 hole to score with the bats behind him
Garrett is an upgrade to the pen plus a lefty
Moose can take over 3b at least temporarily (eat his contract if he sucks)
Castillo satisfies the need for a good young SP
Cincinnati gets a more than fair prospect haul improving their farm and an OF whose capable of getting flipped later for other assets seeing his contract is paid down.
And they are saving money, the prospects cover the loss of Castillo and we get the added players we need for helping them save
Rsox
For Castillo and Garrett alone thats a massive underpay. Moustakas and Grichuck sort of cancel eachother out contractually and you’re basically asking the Reds to gift Akiyama to the Jays
HalosHeavenJJ
Make $8 million to play at home or jump here in the midst of a ton of uncertainty? I totally understand why he stayed.
bobsugar84
Did Jhoulys Chacín sign with the Yankees this morning?? Minor league deal. Surprised I haven’t seen it on here.
lowtalker1
I think he got his citizenship this morning, if not yesterday morning
Rsox
He signed with the Yankees yesterday. Same day he got his citizenship
Oddvark
Will Sugano be an unrestricted free agent next year, or will he still have to go through the posting process (with the fee to the NPB team)?
clrrogers 2
He reportedly has an opt-out in his contract for each year, so if he exercised that he’d be an unrestricted free agent.
mlbdodgerfan2015
Not sure, but I think under his current contract he’s able to opt out and become a free agent, so you’d think that there would be no posting fee if he were to try again after this season. On a 4-year/$60mm contract the posting fee would have been $10.875 million, or about $2.7 million per year, so not insignificant.
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
If there’s no posting fee, then he should opt out and see if he can get what he wants here
VonPurpleHayes
It’s a bummer that owners are so afraid to spend this year. I get it, but it’s a bummer. Sugano would be signed any other year. Good for him for knowing his value. See you in 2022 hopefully.
DarkSide830
i think if he puts up the same numbers next year and stays healthy he’ll get his desired AAV over two years. with most of the teams with the biggest needs less interested it wasnt meant to be. prior to the Pads and Mets trades you have the two best bets, but they pulled the trigger before he was willing to sign evidently.
Ma4170
Too bad bc I feel he wouldve done well… his closest comp from Japan in terms of career numbers is Tanaka, and he’s done very well, especially the first few years
DarkSide830
sucks but im not shocked
VonPurpleHayes
@Darkside In fact, you called it early. You were spot on.
DarkSide830
well it was only a few days ago. i just figured the option to go full FA next year (or either of the two offseasons after) allowed him seriously more control over his destiny. very possible a team can pay him more while paying less overall next offseason with the posting fee eliminated. its a win-win.
patricktroen
Omg no. How blue jays could pass on this guy 🙁
Rsox
Sugano is a known commodity in the NPB so obviously he has more value in that league than in this one. That said i had hoped the Red Sox could have signed him but it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully Bloom can reunite with Odorizzi
mrpadre19
Great to hear the Padres still have the ability to add.
Especially when we know they need to sign a high leverage reliever still as well.
Missed out on Sugano?….go get Rosenthal or Hendricks and also Yates instead.
I’d be fine with that.
Lol
CNichols
Yeah thats totally my thought on this too. Didn’t really see the need for Sugano after Darvish/Snell.
Whatever they were willing to spend on Sugano, they should just re-allocate that money towards relievers. Biggest need for SD right now is a closer anyways.
hyraxwithaflamethrower
I’m honestly a bit surprised. I was thinking Blue Jays, Mets, or Angels would have made an appealing offer. Oh, well. I doubt his value will be any higher next year when he’s 32.
Roughed Odor
Please sign Tijuan Walker back for the Jays. Forget the big names in free agency. Trade some of your infield and catching prospect depth. Ramirez would be nice at third. Jays have money but doesn’t mean they have to be foolish.
Jaysfan1981
I’d prefer Paxton if Bauer isn’t realistic. I dont know if Walker wants to be the #4 or 5 guy and be coming out of the Pen come playoffs.
I’d love to have him back, even him and Paxton together would be nice on 2-3 year incentive laden contacts
But then you 100% have to find a taker for Roark, which isn’t easy. As needy as the Angels are for Pitching i dont know if they would even take him from us for free.
its_happening
Who says Walker is in the bullpen? He would have a full season to prove he’s worthy of a start.
Bauer is realistic. It all comes down to the Jays being willing to go all in on Bauer.
troutfishing
For teams that really need pitching (looking at you Angels), I can’t understand why something like 4 years 64 mil wasn’t on the table for a guy of this quality.
Look at Hiroki Kuroda’s 7 year MLB career that started at age 32 (his consistency is incredible)…. Look at Tanaka and Kenta Maeda’s numbers. Look at the potential Darvish can reach. These guys are the real deal and there is no reason to believe Sugano is any less of a pitcher. 4/64 is less than a QO. The few teams that really needed pitching blew it.
DarkSide830
i can see Halos shying away at that price given its a slightly long committment with the posting fee and the need for other SP on top.
troutfishing
I would argue (respectfully) he is exactly what the Angels need. A consistent 6-7 inning guy that throws roughly a 3.0 – 3.5 ERA and 1.2 Whip for a reasonable price. Though a lights out guy would be great to have, they simply can’t afford to pay 1 pitcher 25 mil + / year. Combine a bunch of consistent # 2 starters who can keep runs between 3-4 per game… and the Halo’s offense will do the rest.
If the Angels could have signed Sugano and combined that with any one of Odorizzi, Tanaka, Paxton, Walker (I think he will bounce back), Porcello, or Quintana… I think they would be in a very good spot. Bauer is way too much of a loose cannon for the money he likely wants.
troutfishing
Also, I know Moreno gave a rough budget of 25 mil… but unless Minasian pulls off some Preller like trades pretty soon here, that number is a pipe dream considering Iglesias’s money along with the remaining pitching they still need.
RobM
Good to see a man hold his ground. He’ll be back, and next time he likely stays.
Shoeless Joe
He’s a hero in Japan- Why come to the US and be another Irabu- unless he’s overpaid. Wrong year. Sayonara!
bobtillman
Let me be the first to report that the Blue Jays are “in on” signing Sugano to a 2022 contract.
It’s also said they’re “discussing” Theodore Cleaver, a 12 year old pitcher from Mayberry.
LaFlamaBlanca
Not surprised at all. Considering we are in a market in which guys like Brad Hand (10 million) and Archie Bradley (5 mill) are getting their relatively cheap contracts declined. How was Sugano’s agent realistically asking for anywhere near what proven major league talent is already having a hard time getting?
SG
My guess is that Sugano had to get to his number or he didn’t think it was worth it with the $8M he already had in hand.
SG
This Sugano decision doesn’t surprise me.
Don’t think 2021, with the virus still rampant, that teams could afford a large risky contract.
Sugano can try again in 2022.
It’s a no brainer for both sides.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Such a bummer for MLB; I really think Sugano is as good, if not better than Nomo was. My guess is that he wasn’t coming here for anything less than 4/$60M and no MLB team was prepared to meet that demand given the 2020 COVID revenue losses and the disaster of a contract that Kikuchi turned out to be with Seattle.
The unfortunate part about it is that this was probably his last chance to sign a 4 year deal in MLB and to earn $50M+. He’ll be 32 next year, pitching into his age 33 season and even if baseball revenues are back 100%, no one is going to risk that amount/term on a soon to be 33 year old who has never pitched in the Majors. Covid in the US may have had something to do with it too, but it sure seems this decision to go back to Japan could end up costing Sugano $10’s of millions of dollars in career earnings unless he has monster endorsement deals in Japan to make up the difference. I was really hoping he’d end up in Boston, but best of luck to him; I doubt we’ll ever see him in MLB at all now.
Jean Matrac
This is one time I’m unhappy to have voted correctly in the poll. I would have liked to see him sign with the Giants. But even if they couldn’t l;and him I would have preferred seeing him sign with someone like the Rangers, Angels, Jays, etc just so I could see him pitch in MLB.
its_happening
He did sign with the Giants.
jimthegoat
Opt-out after each season? Do the Giants not understand leverage?
IronBallsMcGinty
MLB and all foreign leagues should explore international trading before the next CBA.
dan55
The players association would throw a fit. No player wants to be forced out of the country by a trade. Also, why would MLB teams want this? There are already enough proven MLB players/good prospects in the minor leagues that we don’t need to trade with foreign leagues.
Rangers29
At least he has the opt-outs. He’ll be a Ranger next season.
dan55
Good for Sugano. He just got paid $40 million by a Japanese team, which was probably about what MLB teams wanted to sign him for. Now it makes sense why his price was so high.
ABCD
That’s got to be a record for NPB.
whosehighpitch
The hibachi is hotter than the stove
anthonyd4412
Well Giants fans, that’s kind of ok?
iml12
4 for 40 is a solid payday. I am sure he is rockstar in Japan. I can see why he wouldn’t make the move for a couple million a year.
davemlaw
Wasnt his number 4/$56 with the 3 opt outs? Thought I saw that somewhere. I had the feeling his camp was trying to squeeze a MLB team for a big contract.
This makes me think the analytics have really caught on now with every team. 2 years ago this guy would have got stupid money.
Peart of the game
That sounds like an NPB record for a contract so $10 million a year is a great deal for him. Personally, I would’ve offered three years at $12 million a year plus hefty incentives as well.
Jean Matrac
Peart of the game:
I’m not sure offering a couple million more for a year less in length would have motivated him to sign with an MLB team. Incentives are more team-friendly, and less attractive for someone in Sugano’s position of bargaining strength. Players, in general, like security, so guarantees would have carried a lot more attraction than incentives.
It seems to me, with the uncertainties involved, Sugano set a price that he saw as making it worth his while to sign with an MLB team. I don’t think your offer would have been seen by Sugano as being worth his while.
dilson_herrera
To be fair, if I was visiting America this week I would also want to GTFO as well
SG
Yeah, I think you nailed the icing on the cake in making his decision.
If you’re a foreign visitor here with C19 and now Insurrection you’re not a happy camper.
I also suspect Sugano was using the 4/$56 potential US offer to leverage his 4/$40 contract in Japan to max that out.
1984wasntamanual
So he was cool with portions of cities being burned down and looted, but 1 day bothered him that much? I’d assume it probably has more to do with not getting offers he wanted.
dilson_herrera
No one wants to visit an increasingly fascist and antidemocratic USA being run by conspiracy theorists, especially the version you want
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
I see why he opted to stay in Japan. He is a great pitcher, and throws some disgusting pitches with a LOT of movement. This was not a good year to try. Teams aren’t wanting to spend as heavy as normal. If he waits another year, posts more good numbers, he could get the AAV he’s looking for.
I was hoping the Giants signed him, especially after seeing videos of him pitching. Hopefully, the Giants are ready to spend for him next offseason if he posts another good year
Hawktattoo
He had 40 million reasons to stay in Japan.
mcmillankmm
Red Sox going to add any pitching?
mario crosby
Damn, just as the Pirates were ready to open their wallet and sign him. Oh well, they can turn their attention to Lindor and some other free agents after this season.
The Saber-toothed Superfife
He OBVIOUSLY wanted to WORK FOR THE TIGERS!
But our hero, Big Al Avila, was too preoccupied wondering why the executive mess ran out of peach icecream……
I OFFICIALLY CHALLENGE AL AVILA TO A SAKI DRINKING CONTEST.
HE HAS TO PROVE HE IS BASEBALL GM MATERIAL!
TOO MANY “SPORTS PROFESSIONALS” AND NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO JUST LOVE BASEBALL ARE INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS – AND ARE ABSOLUTELY RUINING AMERICA’S GAME!
nature boy
I went to a game in Tokyo about 8 years ago. Loved it. Great vibe, good baseball. Wish I could watch here in the states. Anyone know why their games aren’t broadcast in America? Even a game of the week or something. Thanks in advance for any insight.