The Astros traded for left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi to add some depth to their starting rotation ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline. Area 45's Shaun Bijani and Patrick Creighton react here.
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00:14I was going to say, something tells me we've got a little bit more than I initially planned
00:20to discuss this evening.
00:21Chris Santiago, producer extraordinaire, would you care to share the news with the
00:26masses of the city of Houston?
00:29Whether it be good, whether it be bad, whether it be ugly, at least tell me it's something
00:37regarding the Houston Astros making a deal for somebody that knows how to throw a baseball
00:45worth a damn.
00:46So breaking news, clearly, the Astros have traded for Yusei Kikuchi.
00:51Alright!
00:52Kikuchi!
00:53Who did we give up?
00:56Jake Bloss.
00:57Straight up!
00:58So far, yeah, that's what I've gotten.
01:01If anything pops up, any other players pop up, I'll let you know, but as far as I'm concerned,
01:06it's a one-for-one trade for now.
01:08So I just looked at Jeff Passon's tweet.
01:11The Astros starting pitching has been ravaged by injuries this season, and with Seattle
01:15going out and getting Randy Orozcena, Justin Turner, and Yemi Garcia, the Astros needed
01:21to make a move.
01:22Yusei Kikuchi was it, and Jim Boden was the first to say the deal with Toronto was near,
01:31and I am seeing Jake Bloss is the guy.
01:37Jake Bloss for Yusei Kikuchi.
01:40Your reaction, PC?
01:45They paid a good price.
01:47That was not cheap.
01:49Giving up Jake Bloss is a pretty strong price.
01:54They had to do it.
01:56They had to do it.
01:58I would tell you, they have to do it again.
02:01Now, I like Kikuchi.
02:03I know his ERA isn't great, but a lot of his peripherals are really good.
02:10And number one, the guy misses bats.
02:15Knowing what we know about the Astros and how they coach up pitching and whatnot, how
02:21they maximize what they get from pitchers, I like the fact that they went and got a guy
02:27who strikes out 10 batters per nine this year and knows how to miss bats.
02:34I like that Kikuchi's walk rate is down this year.
02:39In fact, it's a career low, 2.3 walks per nine.
02:43His home run rate is the second lowest of his career and the lowest of his career in
02:49any season, which he pitched at least 100 innings.
02:53The issues are you had to give up a lot to get him.
02:59And look, Jake Bloss is a kid who probably in two years is going to be a pretty decent
03:07pitcher in Major League Baseball.
03:09I don't think he's an ace, but I think he's a solid three.
03:15And that's a guy who two years from now is probably going to be a really solid three
03:20for a Major League team like the Blue Jays.
03:22But the Astros are winning now.
03:24Bloss was one of the, what, top five pitching prospects within the farm system?
03:28He was probably their number two pitching prospect, but like their eighth or ninth best
03:34prospect.
03:35Okay.
03:36So when you say that the Astros paid a good price to get Yusei Kikuchi, who is a rental
03:44at the age of 33 right now, just turned 33 last month.
03:51If people hear that, they're going to say, ah, Jake Bloss, he wasn't ready.
03:55He kind of stunk.
03:57Nothing he did on the mound for the Astros this season resembled even him being good.
04:03But he was one of two pitchers this season for the Astros that had to start games.
04:09The other being Spencer Arrighetti, both of which were not even a blip on the radar screen
04:15in spring training as being Major League Baseball ready.
04:20So just consider that.
04:21So I do agree with you.
04:22The plan this year was for Spencer Arrighetti to basically be what Hunter Brown was two
04:27years ago, which was he was going to pitch for AAA all the way through to like the end
04:32of August and then get called up in late August.
04:35That was originally the plan for Spencer Arrighetti.
04:39Injury after injury after injury changed the plan for Jake Bloss, who this year actually
04:45started the year in high A. He was pitching in the Sally League where he made four starts
04:54pitch very well.
04:55Then he went to Corpus, made eight starts and pitched really well.
05:02Although his strikeout rate absolutely fell when he went from from high A to AA.
05:07This year, wind up having to make three starts for the Astros.
05:12And look, they they were basically what you would expect from somebody who had eight career
05:18starts at AA.
05:21Got thrown into the fire.
05:22He got called up.
05:23He was not ready.
05:24Yeah.
05:25And the Astros knew he wasn't ready.
05:27They just didn't have a choice.
05:29Here's the thing about Kikuchi, though.
05:31Now that he is a Houston Astro, as I mentioned, the age of thirty three, he's a rental.
05:36The Astros presumably on the hook for the remainder of his contract this season, which
05:40was ten million, probably less than five million, maybe in and around four and change what the
05:47Astros are going to have to pay.
05:49You say Kikuchi.
05:51Here's what concerns me.
05:53He misses bats.
05:55His strikeout numbers are really, really good, but they hit the ball and he gives up.
06:02You know, just the last three starts, he's given up five earned, four earned, seven earned.
06:07You go look prior to that, his first two starts the month of July, solid.
06:13It probably is best start or at least one of his best starts on the season came against
06:17the Giants on July 9th.
06:19He went seven and a third, struck out 13 in a loss for the Blue Jays.
06:25But prior to that, he'd given up, you know, four earned, four earned, five earned.
06:30He has not seen the results, but for a guy that has been around the block, pitched a
06:37lot of baseball, coming to an Astros team that certainly needs an innings eater and
06:45somebody that can generate the swing and the miss, like if Kikuchi can kind of harness
06:52the good stuff and maybe the Astros can get the very best out of him.
06:58And I think that is ultimately key here.
07:00When you look at this on the surface, you may not like it.
07:03When I heard about it at first, I didn't like it.
07:06But considering that this Astros staff, from a pitching standpoint in particular, has seemed
07:13to have gotten the very best out of guys that have come in from somewhere else with good
07:19stuff, with a good track record, it generally has worked out pretty well for them, for guys
07:26on the mound.
07:27It's not always at the plate when you've gone out and gotten a hitter, but when they've
07:31gone out and got a pitcher, it has seemingly turned out pretty well.
07:35Garrett Cole, Zach Grinke, you go back to Charlie Morton, I'm probably forgetting a
07:41few along the way, P.C., but-
07:43Wade Miley?
07:44Wait, did you say Wade Miley?
07:45Wade Miley.
07:46Yeah, Wade Miley.
07:47Until his arm fell off at the end of the year.
07:50Yeah, I mean, I'm willing to just see how this plays out.
07:53However, I think you already said this.
07:57They need to do it again.
07:58They need to do it again.
07:59I don't know for what, I don't know for who, but there are still guys out there available
08:04for the Astros to seriously be looking at, not named Eric Fetty, not named Zach Eflin,
08:13not named James Paxton.
08:16All those guys have already been dealt.
08:17The Yankees-
08:18You can say probably not named Jack Flaherty.
08:20Well, is that for sure?
08:21Because Bob Nightingale tweeted out maybe 15 minutes or so ago.
08:26The Astros were going to get Yusei Kikuchi.
08:30They're going to give up Jake Bloss.
08:32That the Astros had been in earlier talks with the Tigers for Jack Flaherty before pivoting
08:37to Kikuchi.
08:39So the Tigers were obviously asking for a lot more in exchange for Jack Flaherty.
08:45Understood.
08:46So-
08:47He's having a better year.
08:48He's a little bit younger, correct?
08:49You know what?
08:51If I'm going to give away my whole farm for a pitcher, go get Blake Snell.
08:57Dude has been frigging lights out for his last four starts.
09:00Oh, I know.
09:01I know.
09:02He's just struck out 15 dudes the other day.
09:03Look, I told Chris this afternoon when he'd come in, I said, hey, did you hear about Blake
09:08Snell?
09:09And he goes, no.
09:11And I said, he got traded.
09:13And he goes, where?
09:14And I said, San Diego.
09:15And he's like, he's already been a Padre.
09:17And I'm like, I know, but I saw it to San Diego.
09:19And I said, you wouldn't believe for who.
09:22And I got done over by one of those bastard ass fake accounts like MLB on facts or some
09:27crap like that.
09:29They got you, man.
09:30They got you.
09:31They got me.
09:32I said, dude, you wouldn't believe who they gave up.
09:33And I said, they gave him up for like an 11 year vet, David Peralta and some other slap
09:38journeyman.
09:39I'm like, how pissed have you got to be if you're the Astros and you see that?
09:42And you're like, we had Chaz McCormick.
09:45And they gave him cash too.
09:46And I'm like, we had Chaz McCormick.
09:47And they're like, you know, X, Y, Z, other major league player, like you could have given
09:50up anybody.
09:51Dana Brown could have done this deal in his sleep.
09:53We could have done this deal in our sleep.
09:55And it was like MLB on facts or something like that.
09:57Like, ah, God bless America.
09:59So yeah, Blake Snell and short people is still available.
10:02San Francisco has said they're not going to pay his contract out.
10:04And I'm like, fine, that's better for the Astros.
10:07That means you have to give up less.
10:09Just take on the money.
10:10Yeah.
10:11Jim Crane said the Astros got plenty of money.
10:12Go get it done, Dana.
10:14You want you want the impact starter?
10:16The guy who's going to change the entire race, go get Blake Snell.
10:19I don't care who you give up.
10:21Literally, ZFG, who you give up.
10:24And if he exercises that $30 million option, good, because he's your Verlander.
10:30Ah, that is a great catch because Justin Verlander will not, I repeat, will not, unless he goes
10:36complete game, nine innings in every remaining possible start that he has.
10:41I don't even know if that's enough.
10:42I mean, it is.
10:44You'd have to throw like 14 innings every game.
10:46Yeah, we don't even know what he's coming back yet.
10:49However, you know, all of these guys generally have somewhere between eight and 10 starts
10:56remaining, you know, of the season, you know, with what, the 57 games left.
11:03And by the time Verlander gets back, roughly end of August, he'll have like five.
11:08Yeah.
11:09You know, it's unfortunate, but he's not going to reach that threshold.
11:12So that's a great point you make.
11:14I just, if we haven't heard scuttle at this point in time, something tells me that it's
11:19probably not going to get done.
11:21But in essence, that's why there is a deadline.
11:23You go all the way up until it's just, it's a little disconcerting to me that, uh, who's
11:28the report that you just read Bob Nightingale when he says the Astros pivoted from Jack
11:34Flaherty to Yusei Kikuchi because of the asking price.
11:38That's what would give me a little bit of trepidation.
11:41But again, as you say, it is Blake Snell.
11:42That is a different tier type of a pitcher.
11:44That is a two-time Cy Young award winner.
11:47That is a difference maker and one in which I think the Astros are absolutely going to
11:51need going forward.
11:52There is one on the caveat to that.
11:54We know Jim Crane really likes Blake Snell.
11:59Yeah.
12:00Well, he's tried multiple times.
12:01As opposed to anybody else that you could possibly get.
12:06Jim Crane, who likes his big fancy stars.
12:09He likes the shiny object.
12:12If the Astros are going to go get a shiny object because they went and got Justin Verlander
12:17in 2017 because Jim Crane essentially made it happen.
12:22They went and got Zach Granke in 2019 because Jim Crane made it happen.
12:28Understood.
12:29If Jim Crane wants to shiny object and he's going to live up to the, I have plenty of
12:36money.
12:37F the money.
12:38Yeah.
12:40Go get them.
12:41Yeah, but you could have gotten them months ago.
12:42Could have.
12:43Whenever the asking price went from $200 million to a year and an option.
12:50Because they were trying to outsmart themselves and be like, oh, we're going to get them on
12:55the super mega cheap and basically did something.
13:00They were never in the game because they were trying to be too slick.
13:04Well, I mean, super mega cheap, what did Snell sign for the Giants for?
13:08One year, 25 million with a $30 million player option.
13:11Okay.
13:12And so it's a win-win at the same time because he didn't have a spring training and he bullied
13:21the team into the idea of, I don't need a spring training.
13:25I can just go pitch and then he stunk.
13:28Most guys are wrong because he wasn't ready.
13:29Right.
13:30And then he got hurt because he wasn't ready.
13:32But since he's come back, he's Blake Snell again.
13:36Yes.
13:37You have to live through all the negativity.
13:39The injuries.
13:40You got right to the, hey, we got the good stuff.
13:43Okay.
13:44But if you were kind of wading in the weeds, if you will, if you're the Astros and Jim
13:48Crane and you watch that from afar, he goes through all that, the injuries, works out
13:53the kinks, and now he's pitching like Cy Young Award winning Blake Snell and less than half
14:00of his salary this season, you'd be on the hook for, what is it going to cost to get
14:04him far more than what you got for Yusei Kikuchi.
14:08But if it means the difference between playing out, you know, the first week of October versus
14:15the first week in November, you do that deal every time, in my opinion.
14:19And that's it.
14:20If you get Blake Snell, you are winning the division.
14:24You are going to the ALCS and you have a shot to go to the World Series.
14:28Yeah.
14:29I don't know.
14:30Biggest tease, that dude.
14:31Yeah, I know.
14:32But when it comes to the division, to me, until the Astros do do that, it got that much
14:39more interesting because in a virtual tie, entering play today with the Seattle Mariners,
14:44that is a ball club that did exactly what they needed to do.
14:48Now, I don't know how you feel about Justin Turner, 39 years old.
14:51No, I thought their moves were really good.
14:52Having an OK season.
14:53Randy Rosareno.
14:54Oh, Rosareno's been terrific for seven weeks.
14:56He has looked like the old Randy Rosareno.
14:58But they put their chips on the table.
15:00They said, hey, we're not jacking around here.
15:02We know what we need to do.
15:04And we're playing this game.
15:05And they've been starting multiple batters with batting averages on the interstate.
15:11Yeah.
15:12They, they, dude, they couldn't hit in a whorehouse or a fistful of hundos, right?
15:17They couldn't hit.
15:18So now you're talking about, they've, they've brought in a, an all-star level player and
15:25a professional hitter who might not be a very good fielder anymore, but he still knows how
15:29to give you a really good professional at bat in Justin Turner.
15:33Their offense got better.
15:34Oh, I think so.
15:35You talk about a professional at bat, I mean, the guy's been very, very good in the post-season,
15:40I think.
15:41And Turner is a guy who is known for leadership in the clubhouse.
15:44100%.
15:45You need that.
15:46So they got a leader.
15:48They got a proven professional at bat.
15:50Yeah, he's older, but he can still hit.
15:52And you got an all-star player and a Rosareno who's a power speed guy and is a high energy
15:57guy.
15:59He's going to inject a new life into that team.
16:01I agree.
16:02And then they went and got themselves a better bullpen arm too, and Yemi Garcia, who's a
16:06solid pitcher.
16:07Yeah, damn that guy.