Baltimore Orioles Sign Japanese Right-Hander Tomoyuki Sugano

The Baltimore Orioles have signed Japanese ace Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year contract.

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The Baltimore Orioles have made a huge move in free agency to add to their starting rotation by agreeing to a one-year, $13 million deal with right-handed Japanese veteran Tomoyuki Sugano per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

While a ton of the attention in the international market this winter has understandably been on the 23-year-old Roki Sasaki, Sugano was extremely sought after himself and is one of the best pitchers in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball for the Yomiuri Giants.

At the age of 35, Sugano has had a decorated international career in his 12 professional seasons in Japan.

Despite his age, Sugano is coming off the best season of his storied career.

In 2024, he made 24 appearances and pitched to a ridiculous 1.67 ERA over 156.2 innings thrown, beaten out only by his sensational 2017 season in which he posted a 1.59 ERA over 25 appearances and 187.1 innings.

During his career in Japan, Sugano has won two Sawamura Awards (Cy Young equivalent), two Central League MVP awards, made eight All-Star appearances, and led the league in ERA four times.

Due to his age, he was never going to command the kind of massive contract that Yoshinobu Yamamoto received last winter, or Sasaki would receive if he were eligible, but $13 million is still a nice chunk of change and potentially a great value for the Orioles as well.

Still clearly at the top of his game, Sugano has proven to be capable of leading a rotation, and the best may still be ahead of him.

As for what this means in the larger picture, it could be a sign that Baltimore ramped up their pursuit of Sugano in preparation of losing Corbin Burnes.

The most sought after arm on the open market has suitors who may be willing to offer a contract in excess of $250 million, and while the Orioles have expressed a desire to keep get him back and aren't necessarily out of the running, giving Sugano the contract they did could point to the writing being on the wall regarding Burnes.

At the very least, though, signing Sugano is an exciting development that has the potential to ease the impending loss of last year's ace.