Free Agent Tomoyuki Sugano Refuses To Return to Japan; Holding Out for MLB Deal

January 28, 2026
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano walks off the field during 2025 game.

Tomoyuki Sugano is making it clear his next move is still in Major League Baseball. 

The veteran right-hander told Sports Hochi he is waiting on offers and has “no intention of returning to Japanese baseball,” shutting the door on a quick trip back to Nippon Professional Baseball after just one season with the Baltimore Orioles.

Sugano is betting on another MLB deal

Sugano, 36, entered MLB on a one-year deal with Baltimore and handled a full starter’s workload, taking the ball 30 times and logging 157 innings. 

The results were uneven, as he finished with a 4.64 ERA and 1.33 WHIP while striking out 106 and walking 36, and the long ball was his biggest issue with 33 homers allowed. 

Still, for teams shopping for a back-end arm who can cover innings every fifth day, that durability is going to get attention even if the upside is limited. 

His Japan resume still carries real weight

The reason clubs keep listening is because Sugano’s track record in Japan is not ordinary. In 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, he went 136 and 74 with a 2.43 ERA across 1,857 innings, and he arrived in MLB fresh off a 15-3 season with a 1.67 ERA that earned him Central League MVP honors. 

He is also a two-time Sawamura Award winner, and his accolades in NPB include multiple league awards that still frame him as a credible depth option even as his stuff plays closer to contact management than bat missing in the majors. 

With Sugano insisting he is staying put in the MLB market, the fit feels simplest with clubs that need reliable innings more than they need a strikeout artist, especially in a park that can help keep the homer problem from repeating.  

Photo Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

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