Tomoyuki Sugano, arguably the best pitcher in Japan and will most likely be posted in the coming weeks and become available to the New York Yankees and other major league teams.
The New York Yankees have some tough decisions to be made during this offseason. The decisions will be mostly with what to do with their pitching rotation headed by Gerrit Cole, but beyond that there are no definites. One decision has been made, the Yankees did not offer free agent Masahiro Tanaka a qualifying offer, many thought the “Tank” would be back with the Yankees next season. However in free agency Tanaka can negotiate with the Yankees, but the Yankees will only consider a deeply discounted contract for a short term. James Paxton and J.A. Happ were not issued qualifying offers, leaving some big holes in the starting rotation.
There may be some relief for the Yankees as Luis Severino is expected back before the All-Star break, returning from Tommy John surgery. If the Yankees decide to take back their 2019 most winningest pitcher Domingo German,s who was suspended for the 2020 season, They will have Cole, Montgomery, German and at some point Luis Severino. But that still leave a position or two to fill. One of those may be filled by Deivi Garcia.
The Yankees will most likely need another starting arm. But after a season of no money caused by the coronavirus, it’s hard to tell if the Yankees will penny-pinch or spend a modest amount to bolster the starting lineup. That pretty much rules out Trevor Bauer who will demand big bucks. There are other posibilities like Corey Kluber and Kevin Gausman. Or might the Yankees look to Japan as they did with Masahiro Tanaka?
The New York Yankees since the 1990s have had interest in players that played well for Japanese teams. Hideki Irabu, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, kei Igawa, Hiroki Kuroda, Ryokta Igarashi, and of course Masahiro Tanaka. Now they could be looking at Tomoyuki Sugano to solve their pitching rotation.
This season so far (the season is still going on) he is 13-1 with an ERA of 2.05. For his career he is 100-50 with an ERA of 2.35. The 31 year old righty is 6′ 1″ and weighs 210 pounds. He a three-quarters delivery, Sugano throws two fastballs (four-seam and sinker sitting at 90-93 mph, a solid slider, a curveball and a forkball. He is known for his excellent command, posting a BB/9 of 1.8 in his Japanese career.
Sugano has a solid ability to generate weak contact, holding opposing hitters to a 55% ground ball rate. To top it off, he is quite able to help himself out with the glove once the pitch is released. His pitching style makes him a good fit for the Yankee Stadium short porch.
Major League scouts have said that Sugano would make a solid number three starter in the Major Leagues.
MLB has pushed back by one week the period in which a player from Nippon Professional Baseball can be posted, to Nov. 8-Dec. 12. That acknowledges that the Japanese season was delayed at the outset by the COVID-19 pandemic and extended about a month longer than normal, with its version of the World Series scheduled for Nov. 21-29.
A posted player has a month-long window to reach an agreement with an MLB team from the date of posting and his Japanese team receives a fee at a percentage of his contract if he signs with a major league team.
There is a clitge in the situation, considering that the free agent season will be penny-pinched by most teams, Sugano could wait until next season to make his move to the Major Leagues.