Year after year, an Asian standout makes it to Major League Baseball to try and replicate their dominance from their home markets in the U.S, and while they don’t always succeed, Asian baseball has provided some great stars throughout the course of history.
And, now that the deadline day for Japanese players is just around the corner, the rumors of Tomoyuki Sugano and the interest he’s getting from multiple MLB teams continue to grow by the second.
According to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, the Japanese superstar is set to be one ofthe most sought-after players we’ve seen in the past years, with as much as 5 ballclubs looking to make a run at him.
Mets, Padres, Blue Jays, Giants, And Red Sox Want To Sign Japenese Star Tomoyuki Sugano
“The deadline for Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano to sign is fast approaching, on Jan. 7, and the hurler still has at least five suitors, according to a report from MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi. The Blue Jays, Padres, Giants, Mets and Red Sox are all still in pursuit of Sugano, who had a 1.97 ERA in 20 games for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2020,” read the report.
Tomoyuki Sugano is a two-time winner of the Sawamura Award, which is the Japanese league’s equivalent to the CY Young Award. Moreover, most scouts view him as a mid-rotation kind of guy with the upside of being any team’s ace.
That’s why some executives believe that the New York Mets are set to be the most aggressive team looking to sign Sugano, as they’re looking to add more firepower to their rotation with Noah Syndergaard coming back from a Tommy John surgery.
Also, with Steve Cohen recently buying the team, they’re fully expected to make the most of the ‘Covid-19 discounts’ and bring in multiple stars to become an instant contender, according to Joel Sherman of The New York Post.