Report: Blue Jays made strong bid for Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano

Tomoyuki Sugano has until Thursday to sign a deal with a Major League Baseball club. While several teams are interested in the Japanese right-hander, one has reportedly made a considerable offer. 

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Toronto Blue Jays have made a strong bid for Sugano. This week, Rosenthal also reported that Sugano could opt to return to Japan's Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization. The Giants have made him a four-year offer with opt-outs, while MLB teams have offered him more money. It's unclear which way he is leaning.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees also have been linked to the 31-year-old.

Sugano has been one of Japan's best pitchers since 2013, when he joined the Giants at 23 years old. He won the Sawamura Award, equivalent to MLB's Cy Young Award, in 2017 and 2018. Last season, he went 14-2 with a 1.97 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 131 strikeouts over 137.1 innings.

In his analysis of Sugano, Morosi compares the 31-year-old to Kenta Maeda and Masahiro Tanaka, while also suggesting that he could be the second-best arm on the market behind Trevor Bauer.